Malaysia police arrest 42 foreigners
after riot at export factory
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[August 27, 2014]
By Trinna Leong
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police
have arrested 42 men after a riot by up to 1,000 mostly Nepalese workers
sparked fires and destroyed parts of an electronics export factory,
highlighting accusations of poor conditions for many of the estimated
four million foreign workers in the Southeast Asian country.
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The riot broke out in the southern industrial hub of Johor state
on Tuesday at a factory run by JCY International <JCYI.KL>, a
Malaysian firm that makes parts for electronic giants including
Samsung <SAGR.UL>, Hitachi <6501.T> and Western Digital <WDC.O>.
Workers had accused the firm of negligence after an employee at a
nearby JCY factory died last Thursday after complaining of chest
pains, according to local news reports.
The unrest spilled over to the firm's other factory in Kulaijaya,
police said, culminating in a stand-off between riot police and
protesters. The factory suspended operations on Wednesday.
"This was caused by a misunderstanding between the employer and
employees over the terms of their work," the district's deputy
police chief, Mohad Idris Samsuri, told Reuters.
Those arrested would be charged under the anti-rioting law, he said.
JCY, which specializes in manufacturing parts for hard disk drives,
issued a statement to the stock exchange saying that the unrest
would not impact its business.
"The company is currently taking active steps and measures to
address the above matter and to reach an amicable settlement with
the workers," it said.
Malaysia's record on treating foreign workers is under scrutiny
after the U.S State Department downgraded the country in June to
Tier 3 in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, triggering
potential sanctions. The report cited widespread problems of forced
labor and a lack of enforcement by the authorities as major reasons
for the downgrade.
Malaysia's large electronics, plantation and construction industries
rely heavily on unskilled foreign labor from countries such as
Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal.
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The immigrants often arrive in Malaysia heavily in debt after paying
high fees to labor agencies and are commonly given substantially
lower salaries and even different jobs to the ones they were
promised, according to studies by advocacy groups.
Verite, a non-profit organization that deals with labor issues, says
companies commonly withhold workers' passports and have poor health
and safety practices.In 2010, over 5,000 foreign workers protested
against JCY after a similar incident when a Nepalese employee died
from a high fever. Workers had alleged that the management was slow
in sending the employee to hospital.
Last week, three Bangladeshi workers died when a 300-tonne concrete
section fell on them at a railway construction site line in Kuala
Lumpur.
(Reporting By Trinna Leong; Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
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