PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is in the process of joining Alliance 8.7 as one of the “pathfinder” countries that support the Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 targets, says V. Sivakumar.
The Human Resources Minister said he had emphasised Malaysia’s commitment to fighting the issue of forced labour during the 111th International Labour Conference on June 12 in Geneva.
“This includes the amendment of the Employment Act 1955 (Amendment 2022) which has created new provisions through Section 90B regarding forced labour. Malaysia has also launched the National Action Plan on Forced Labour (2021-2025) (NAPFL) regarding forced labour in November 2021.
“We will never compromise on the issue of forced labour,” he said in a statement, Bernama reported.
Alliance 8.7 refers to global cooperation aimed at expediting the elimination of forced labour and modern slavery by 2030 and child labour by 2025.
Among the “pathfinder” countries that have joined are Argentina, Chile, Nepal and Uganda.
Section 90B, among other things, prohibits employers against threatening, forcing or deceiving employees to do certain things as well as prevent employees from leaving the workplace, which are defined as forced labour practices.
Sivakumar said his ministry would continue to intensify enforcement activities in combating the issue as well as carry out various inspection operations based on legal provisions in collaboration with the Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia.
“I also emphasise on providing standard accommodation for workers, whereby Malaysia has amended the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Employee Facilities Act 1990, which aims to force employers to provide adequate housing and facilities, thus improving the quality of life of workers.
“Malaysia has also extended social security protection for the occupational injury scheme to foreign workers with effect from Jan 1, 2019, in line with the core principles of the Good Work Agenda of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),” he said.He added that efforts to combat the issue of forced labour would continue in line with the country’s commitment on the ILO convention on forced labour namely C029 – Forced Labour Convention, 1930, on Nov 11, 1957 and Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, which was ratified on March 21 last year.
The ministry would also continue to work with domestic stakeholders and international organisations to achieve the objectives of the National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons 2021-2025 and NAPFL, he said.
