Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Cambodian government criticised over domestic worker complaints

Cambodian domestic working migrants say the Malaysian government failed to protect them from exploitation.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Australia Network News

An amnesty report reveals that Cambodian police officers in collusion with recruitment agencies may have placed domestic workers in risk of being exploited when travelling to Malaysia.

Human Rights Watch spokesperson Jyotsna Poudyal says Cambodian authorities and the Malaysian government have failed to protect migrants in the female-dominated industry from abuse.

Cambodian women and girls experience abuse at each step of the migration process,” she told Radio Australia’s Connect Asia program.

“The Cambodian government has failed to regulate [recruitment agencies].”

Jyotsna Poudyal says that tens of thousands of Cambodian women and girls, coming mainly from poor, rural backgrounds, travel to Malaysia for work because there is a lack of job opportunities in Cambodia.

“There is lack of regulation and monitoring of these private agencies,” she added.

“We did find that there was some collusion between police officers with the recruitment agencies, and that just heightens the risk and exploitations.”

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