Nearly one third of about 350,000 workers in Malaysia’s electronics industry work in conditions equivalent to modern-day slavery such as debt bondage, according to a study funded by the US Department of Labor.
The survey by Verite, an international labor rights group, found that abuse of workers’ rights — particularly the tens of thousands from low-wage countries like Nepal, Myanmar and Indonesia — was rife.
Several US, European, Japanese and South Korean multinationals have operations in Malaysia, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Sony Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Intel Corp and Bosch Ltd.
Some big brands use suppliers such as Flextronics International Ltd, Venture Corporation Ltd, Jabil Circuit Inc and JCY International Bhd to make parts for smartphones, computers and printers.
Malaysia is a middle-income country where labor standards have been seen as better than in some of its Asian neighbors such as China, where questionable labor practices have drawn scrutiny in recent years.
Verite did not single out any companies in its report, released on Wednesday, but blamed a system in which government and industry policies have given Malaysian recruitment firms increasing control over workers’ pay and other conditions.
“These results suggest that forced labor is present in the Malaysian electronics industry in more than isolated incidents, and can indeed be characterized as widespread,” the group said.
The study comes three months after Malaysia was downgraded to Tier 3 in the US Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, which cited a lack of progress in protecting the rights of about 4 million foreign workers.
The report, based on interviews with 501 workers, found that 28 percent of employees were in situations of “forced labor,” in which work is coerced through factors including indebtedness from excessive fees charged by recruiters.
That figure rose to 32 percent for foreign workers, who are often mislead about salary and other conditions when they are recruited.
Verite said the numbers were based on conservative definitions. It found that 73 percent of workers displayed “some characteristics” of forced labor.
On average, workers in the survey were found to have paid 2,985 ringgit (US$925) to brokers in their home countries and in Malaysia as payment for their passage and jobs. That is more than the average per capita annual income in Nepal.
Unable to afford a lump sum upfront, more than two thirds of workers who paid broker fees had to borrow money.
One in five immigrants were working more than the suggested 60 hours of overtime a week — the industry’s international standard limit — the group said. Malaysian law allows employees to clock up to 72 hours of overtime.
The group found workers’ passports were often confiscated by recruitment firms, which is illegal in Malaysia. Some firms were found to charge more than US$1,000 for a worker to “borrow” their own passport.
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