The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, a regional migrant centre based in Hong Kong, strongly criticizes the Malaysian government for its recent pronouncement of collecting more levy to the impoverished migrant workers.

Based on the statement recently released by Tenaganita, a migrant serving institution based in Malaysia, migrant workers in Malaysia will suffer a reduction of up to 17% from their already low income of RM 900 (US$216.50) due to the levy adjustment. This will mean more hardship for migrants workers who already have to scrape a living.

Migrant workers in Malaysia are not only being used as source of cheap labor but at the same time being bled dry of their already meager salary.

Discrimination and double standards are rearing their ugly heads. Local workers who earn no more than RM 3000 a month are not required to pay taxes, while migrants workers who earn RM 900 as their minimum wage are now being taxed more via the levy rate adjustment.

The APMM strongly advocates “Equal Pay for Equal Work and Equal Treatment”. Migrant workers who are doing the same work should receive no wage discrimination and receive the same wage rates as those of local workers. Both migrants and local workers should be treated equally and must receive the same benefits. Wage discrimination is a way for unscrupulous employers to undercut the wages of local workers while abusing migrant workers and robbing them of their rightful pay.

Wage discrimination is also a tool of employers to pit workers versus workers. It creates a race to the bottom, where all workers – local and migrants – are losers.

We add our voice to the civil society organizations raising concern with this recent development in Malaysia and we call the Malaysian government to immediately stop this discriminatory practice and uphold and respect labor rights of both migrant and local workers.

Reference: Ramon Bultron, Managing Director

                   Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)

                   www.apmigrants.org

                   Contact No. +852-94773141