10 ways to solve the problems of migrant workers

COMMENT | Migrant labor is a rather complex issue to deal with due to corruption, patronage, abuses, etc. at every stage of the process involving senior ministers and politicians, government officials at all levels and law enforcement agencies.

This is a huge mess that has no solution unless the Madani government is prepared to uproot it, resolve all the associated problems and hold the hundreds of people involved accountable.

The ultimate losers will be the migrant workers, who are left in poverty by the syndicates even after they have paid huge sums to get here, and the employers, who will have to pay unreasonably large sums of money to attract migrant workers.

Malaysiakini’s latest expose talks about syndicates that receive quotas to import foreign workers but have no need for them. They sell these quotas to those who need them, pocketing millions of ringgit for free.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Others receive thousands of ringgit per employee for employment, while others (sometimes the same people or companies) receive thousands more ringgit from employers per employee.