Duped by unscrupulous agents who promised them great jobs and high salaries in Malaysia, an increasing number of Indians, especially skilled and semi- skilled workers, are at their wits' end, having lost their life's savings to reach here for non-existing employment.
"Between the job agents in India and their counterparts in this country, the poor Indian worker loses all his life's savings, to come here to find that the jobs don't exist or in some cases the salaries promised don't exist," an official at the Indian High Commission said.
"There is an increase in cases of abuse of employees by employers, like non-payment of salary, beatings, inhuman living conditions," the official, who requested anonymity, said, adding the High Commission received seven to eight complaints each month from Indian workers.
One such victim was Dharma from Madurai, who said he had been promised a job as a painter but found himself mowing lawns here. "I am waiting for my two-year contract to be over and want to go back home," he said.
Though now checks are being made and the High Commission attests the employment contract, still the duping continues as many travel to Malaysia on tourist visa and stay back illegally to find jobs.
Most Indian workers in Malaysia are from Tamil Nadu while there is also an increasing number coming from from Punjab and Rajasthan whose final "dream" is to enter Australia via Malaysia.
"The youth, taken in by the smooth talk and concocted stories, pay at least two lakh rupees each to agents little knowing that they are brought to Malaysia on a tourist visa, given a few thousand ringgit (local currency) to show at the immigration in case questioned and once here are left in a lurch after the agent flees with their passports and the money," the High Commission official said.
Of late a new trend has started where job agents in India are offering high paying jobs in the name of subsidiaries of Petronas, Malaysia's biggest oil company.
The Indian High Commission has identified a few job agents operating here with their sub-agents in India, against whom several complaints had been received.
The official said there was a job agent in southern Johor who promised jobs in Malaysian Maritime Heavy Engineering, which later did not materialise, but by that time it was too late for an Indian worker to get back all his money.
"There have been many complaints against an outsourcing agent called Stor Tawakal who promised jobs to skilled and semi-skilled workers in India, where they conducted some mock tests and assured them of jobs. The modus operandi then is very simple, the workers are brought here and promised 1500 ringgit a month (Rs 17000 approximately). Once here, they are again tested and almost all failed, they are then asked to go back to India."
Sixty two workers were deported in September and another 16 recently sent back in three batches. The official said the High Commission had provided them temporary shelter and also gave them food.
