PENANG deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy has criticised Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin for being in denial over the presence of forced labour in the country.

This comes after Zuraida had lauded the decision by the US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) to set up a working committee with the Malaysian Government to address the issue of forced labour allegations.

“It is sad that our two ministers are in denial mode over the presence of forced labour in Malaysia. For them the allegations of forced labour are wild and baseless,” Ramasamy said in a statement today.

“Both talk happily about establishing joint committees with the US CBP to get around the allegations of the widespread use of forced labour in industries that use cheap and malleable labour force.

“They think that the establishment of joint committees with the US BCP might be able to address these ‘wild and unsubstantiated’ allegations of forced labour.”

According to Ramasamy, both ministers must accept and acknowledge that there is widespread use of forced labour in the country, especially in plantations and low-skilled production establishments.

“Malaysia might be guided by International Labour Organisation (ILO) considerations on forced labour but this alone is not enough to suggest the absence of forced labour in the country,” he commented.

“Saravanan and Zuraida might have had pleasant meetings with the US authorities in relation to the use of forced labour in Malaysia but the fact that the products of some Malaysian companies were barred from entry into the US might provide some indication of the use of forced labour.

“Saravanan and Zuraida cannot keep on misleading the Malaysian public as though allegations about forced labour are untrue.”

US protectionism

Ramasamy further called on Saravanan and Zuraida to clarify if the issue of US protectionism might also be a factor in discussions of forced labour.

“Another reason why the US is barring Malaysian products might have to do with the US seeking to protect its domestic industries from unfair competition with products from Malaysia that are produced cheaply on the basis of subdued labour,” he opined.

“The US might not be opposed to the implications that this is posing unfair competition to their products.

“I wonder whether our gung-ho ministers raised the issue of the US protectionist policies or were they so overwhelmed with the meetings with American officials that they lacked the dignity to adopt a critical perspective on forced labour?”

Ramasamy went on to claim that forced labour is something endemic to the Malaysian economy and cannot be eliminated simply by denying its presence.

“Forced labour essentially means that human beings are deprived of their basic right in the process of imparting their labour power,” he pointed out.

“It is a problem that needs to be sorted out in the long run by attracting high-end investments and a high degree of industrialisation by reliance on human talents and skills.

“Our reliance on foreign workers is a pathway to the use of forced labour that will be squeezed against their will to attract surplus value in the form of greater profits.” – May 16, 2022

https://focusmalaysia.my/ramasamy-saravanan-zuraida-in-denial-over-presence-of-forced-labour-in-msia/