KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap) urged the local media to be more careful in their reports on foreign maids, claiming there were conflicting facts in the recent news on the alleged confinement of 105 foreign workers by an employment agency in Klang.
Pikap president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan said there were concerns that such reports could trigger a misunderstanding between Malaysia and the workers’ countries of origin by portraying Malaysia as being not safe for foreign workers anymore.
At a press conference here yesterday to clarify the situation, he said one day after the incident, Pikap set up a taskforce to investigate the matter.
“We went to the agency personally. We’re disappointed that some reports stated these foreign maids were not paid their salaries, not given sufficient food and forced to eat newspaper when they tried to complain.
“As it involves an agency registered under Pikap, we feel responsible for clarifying the real situation to the public,” he said.
Raja Zulkepley remarked that there were two cases of employers not paying their Cambodian maids but they were being handled by the Labour Department.
“Agencies only act as agents between employers and workers. Salaries are paid by employers, not the agencies.
“Our investigation also found that no maids were sent out as cleaners. All of them were informed that they’ll work as house maids here. In fact 82 of them have employers waiting,” he said.
The rest had arrived one to three weeks ago and were awaiting their visas from Immigration and Fomema health reports, as well as undergoing training, he explained.
As to reports of the maids not being provided sufficient food, he claimed it occurred in the employers’ houses and not at the agency concerned, adding that they found ample supply of food stored there for the standard norm of three meals daily.
“We also found the maids housed in a 20×80 square feet area housed in the same building as the management office. They had access to the office and were not left alone,” he said.
Regarding certain reports saying the maids were forced to eat newspaper when they tried to complain, Raja Zulkepley said there was only one maid who complained of such a matter but it was doubtful and needed to be investigated thoroughly.
He said information from a reliable source had confirmed that a government hospital medical report stated there were no signs of physical abuse on the maids.
“With this clarification, we appeal to the media to be more ethical in reporting this news as previously it appeared as though all 105 workers were not paid, abused and not given enough food and worst of all forced to eat newspaper, which is an absolutely inhumane act,” he emphasised.
However, Pikap will not protect any employment agencies or its staff who acted in an irresponsible manner in handling foreign workers or involved in human trafficking, said Raja Zulkepley.
Last Monday, several local media reported that the Selangor Immigration rescued 105 foreign women confined in a four-storey building of a maid agency in Bandar Baru Klang near here during a special raid on the premises.
The reports said they were not only confined but were forced to eat newspaper and not paid for the past six months. — Bernama