PSM central committee member Rani Rasiah said most of the foreign workers were not told of the deductions when they were recruited but only knew about it when they landed in Malaysia.
“We would like to point out that levy is a tax to deter employers from giving priority to migrant workers when hiring.
“So employers should pay the levy and not deduct it from their workers’ salaries, as they have been doing.
“The country suffers as it loses RM5 billion per year in foreign remittances made by migrant workers to their home countries,” she said in a statement.
Rani is part of a coalition called Migrant Workers’ Right to Redress, whose members come from Tenaganita, North South Initiative, Sahabat Wanita, MTUC, AOHD and Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign.
“We should not ignore the fact that migrant workers have paid their share of the cost when they paid their recruitment fees.
“The workers, looking for a better life, are forced to mortgage their land, house and even take loans to pay for the recruitment and travelling costs.”
However, upon arriving in Malaysia, many have complained of not being informed of the levy deduction, rentals, electricity bills and other things they are forced to pay, causing them to earn much less than the minimum RM1,000 a month, added Rani.
“In order to pay back their loans back home, most migrant workers force themselves to work 10 -12 hours a day, seven days a week to maximise their overtime earnings.
“The implications of making the migrant workers pay for their levy is inhumane and exploitative.”
The government recently announced the Employer Mandatory Commitment (EMC) which makes employers responsible for their migrant workers, from the point of recruitment to their return to their home country.
They must provide proper accommodation and must pay a higher security deposit.
Rani said the EMC was a good start to address the many seemingly unmanageable problems related to labour migration — human trafficking, forced labour, undocumented workforce, and rampant exploitative practices, such as denying workers the minimum wages and overworking them.
Rani said the coalition also suggested raising the cost of migrant labour for the employers. This would compel employers to recruit more local workers and in the long run reduce the country’s dependence on migrant workers, said Rani.