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The labour department says it will sanction firms and strip away licences from recruitment agencies involved in hiring migrant workers who later found themselves stranded without jobs.
Hundreds of migrant workers, mostly from Bangladesh and Nepal, were reported to have been left in limbo after arriving in Malaysia after being promised jobs in exchange for steep recruitment fees. Putrajaya announced a probe last month.
Many of the migrants say they have not been paid salaries for months. The reports come amid concerns over workplace abuses in Malaysia, with several companies facing US bans for forced labour in recent years.
In response to Reuters’ queries, Malaysia’s labour department vowed to take action against recruitment agencies and companies found to have misused government quotas and licences for hiring migrant workers.
In an emailed statement, the department said it would conduct a thorough investigation and will not compromise on any unlawful activities that could “lead to any form of forced labour”.
The department said it had moved some of the stranded workers to government-registered quarters, and compelled some companies to pay for their accommodation and salaries.
It did not say how many workers in a similar plight it had identified, or how many firms or agencies it was
investigating. The department also denied reports that two Nepali citizens had died by suicide at a workers’ accommodation facility.
It cited police investigations that determined only one death – that of a Nepali recruitment agent, who had travelled to Malaysia to oversee the cases of workers stranded.
