The Labour Law Reform Coalition said that it was appalled by MEF’s refusal, adding that the employers’ group had “clearly turned a blind eye to abundant evidence of forced labour incidents” in the country.

“Trade unions and migrant worker groups here have observed a repetitive pattern of rights abuses.

“Among them are withholding wages, keeping their passports to restrict their movement, terminating and repatriating them without pay and non-renewal of work permits. All these make them undocumented migrants.

“The root cause of these problems is the power imbalance between the migrant workers and their employers.

“The employers can misuse the rigid system to threaten the workers, which is tantamount to forced labour,” it said in a statement.

MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman had earlier this week turned down rights activist Andy Hall’s call to the government to give the foreign workers a chance to switch jobs and break away from forced labour situations.

He said the proposal was deemed unfair to employers because they would have spent a lot of money in the initial recruitment.

Syed Hussain said this would only work if proper mechanisms are drawn up to ensure employers are compensated for the money spent on recruiting them.

The coalition said MEF ought to accept Hall’s suggestion in the event workers’ rights were violated.

“The employers’ expenses during the recruitment process should not be an excuse to condone violation of workers’ rights and criminal activities.

“Please put people before profits,” it said.