LETTER | The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is deeply concerned with the recent report of the detention of 171 Bangladesh workers exploited and trafficked into Malaysia with the false promise of jobs despite paying huge recruitment fees.

Prior to their arrest, it was reported that they were marching to the Bayu Damai police station in Johor to lodge reports that they were cheated by agents promising jobs.

Their desperation must have driven them to lodge reports despite being aware of the risk of arrest, detention and deportation.

We believe that these victims were in such a dire situation and reaching out to the police must have been a last resort attempt to return to their country of origin despite huge personal suffering and massive financial losses.

These people were duped and entered Malaysia on a valid immigration pass indicating the strong possibility of lax enforcement approvals and very likely corrupt practices within the relevant agencies.

In the past, Suhakam has issued numerous statements on modern slavery and human trafficking in the guise of “legalised” recruitment processes which are manifestly inhumane, abusive and exploitative to migrants.

Our position on the issues regarding migrant workers has always been rooted in the principles of justice, including educating the public and industries on accountability in business practices and respect for human rights.

Therefore, we implore and urge the government to seriously address this matter and execute the following actions:

• Setting up a high-level task force to facilitate thorough and transparent investigations, identify shortcomings and most importantly action to be recommended against people involved in this horrible and exploitative human trafficking process;

• Expedite the implementation of the recommendations listed in the “Report of the Independent Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers” which includes issues of unethical, unhealthy, and unfair practices in the recruitment of foreign workers;

• The foreign workers monitoring systems should also be amplified to ensure fair and safe working conditions for migrant workers, along with cooperation with countries of origin to create safe migration routes;

• Working towards a complete overhaul in terms of policies, processes, accountability and transparency in the recruitment as well as management of migrant workers and proceed to set up a dedicated ministry to manage all migrant workers' affairs in the country.

We hope all relevant agencies to immediately address the longstanding issues of foreign workers management in Malaysia.

We have to be mindful that these issues involve basic and inviolable human rights and the lack of meaningful action and continued indifference will only reflect on us as a nation and society lacking in compassion dignity and humane values.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.