Source: The Malay Mail Online

UK daily The Guardian reported today an ‘abusive system’ to be prevalent in Malaysia’s palm oil industry, involving human trafficking for labour, debt bondage and culminating in the birth of stateless children born to these foreign workers. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — In the storm over the palm oil sector’s slash-and-burn practices, Malaysia’s migrant worker “unfriendly” laws have been overshadowed by the uproar over environmental concerns that resulted in the thick haze that recently blanketed Southeast Asia, rights activists claim.
Citing several migrant rights advocacy experts, UK daily The Guardian reported today an “abusive system” to be prevalent in Malaysia’s palm oil industry, involving human trafficking for labour, debt bondage and culminating in the birth of stateless children born to these foreign workers.
“It is a very abusive system that includes labour-trafficking, debt bondage and unfair payments,” Eric Gottwald, legal and policy director at the International Labour Rights Forum, was quoted as saying.
Malaysia is the world’s second biggest producer of palm oil after Indonesia and with the country seeking to leap from the ranks of middle-income into high-income, much of the labour-intensive jobs have been farmed out to workers from other lower-income countries. Read more →