NEW DELHI: Indian nationals working in Malaysia complain the least about exploitation, ill-treatment and non-payment of salaries.

Compared to the thousands of complaints made by their fellow countrymen working elswhere outside India, there were only 65 complaints from Indian nationals in Malaysia up to July this year.

Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said there was a total of 152 complaints from Indian workers in Malaysia last year, an increase from 131 in 2010 and 105 in 2009.

He said in a statement here that although the number of complaints registered in Malaysia had been increasing in recent years, it still remained low when compared to other countries hosting workers from India.

Vayalar said Indian nationals working in Kuwait recorded the highest number of complaints with 2,253 grievances in the first seven months of the year.

This is followed by those in Qatar (2,194), Oman (1,494), Bahrain (470) and the United Arab Emirates (393).

He said Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia recorded 1,889 complaints up to August.

“The Indian government has taken several initiatives to protect the welfare of overseas Indian workers.

“There does not appear to be a continuous rise in the number of cases of exploitation or misbehaviour and harassment of Indian workers,” he said.

Vayalar Ravi also said there are about 150,000 legally-recruited Indian workers in Malaysia, both in the skilled and semi-skilled segments and mainly in the services sector.

He added there are also about 10,000 professional expatriates employed in the information technology, manufacturing and banking sectors.

“Malaysia is among the top favourite destinations for Indian job-seekers due to the nearness (of the two countries) as well as the strong bilateral ties (between them),” he said.

India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the worker issue with Malaysia as well as with the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

The MoUs enhance bilateral cooperation in management of migration and protection of labour welfare.

India also has labour agreements with Jordan and Qatar. - Bernama

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