PESHAWAR, Oct 30: Pakistani expatriates in Malaysia are facing numerous problems, wages lower than they have been promised by the overseas employment promoters and harsh working conditions.
Relatives of three Pakistanis, who had gone to Malaysia early this month in a group of 94 people, said that their agent had charged Rs120,000 and promised that they would be provided a well-paid job with three-year contract.
Relatives of Zahid Khan, Noor Khan and Aaqil Khan, all hailing from Bara tehsil of the Khyber Agency, said that the overseas employment promoter had promised that their monthly salary would be 780 ringgit (about Rs14,440). However, the employer in Malaysia would deduct 100 ringgit per month as levy.
Their happiness vanished when they started work as daily-wagers, the relatives said. The employer was giving only 18 ringgit per day (about Rs288), but for the last 10 days, the expatriates told their relatives on Wednesday, it had been raining, which meant no earning.
They also blamed their Malaysian employer for providing low standard accommodation. Several people were sharing a room without a fan and could hardly get proper sleep.
The three tribal Pakistanis informed their families that they were not given the contract letter by the overseas employment promoter. Their employer in Malaysia was also not providing a copy of the contract to them, therefore they had no idea on what terms and conditions they were employed.
If they continued to work under such circumstances, they would hardly be able to recover the amount they had paid to the overseas employment promoter in Peshawar, their relatives said.
They claimed that one Nasrullah, a resident of Taro Jabba town of Nowshera, was working as a sub-agent of the overseas employment promoter having an office at the Khyber Bazaar in Peshawar.
Mr Nasrullah had charged them Rs120,000 with the promise that they would be provided well-paid jobs.
Official sources told Dawn that no overseas promoter could charge more than Rs60,000 for offering jobs in Malaysia.
This correspondent contacted one of the overseas employment promoters, who had given an ad about jobs in Malaysia, on telephone and pretend as a job seeker. An official said that he would have to pay Rs120,000 as consultancy fee and other charges, and Rs 20,000 in advance along with the passport and medical certificate.
Officials at the Bureau of Immigration of Overseas Employment (BIOE) acknowledged that they had received complaints about the overcharging.
“We have given an official advertisement this month, wherein we clearly urged the people not to pay more than Rs60,000, including airfares, to the overseas promoters,” said an official.
Pakistani employees had been facing the same problem in 1997-98 when over 2,000 labourers were sent to Malaysia. The government then decided not to send any person for job to Malaysia owing to bad working conditions and low wages, the officials said.
The officials said that according to a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries Malaysia would provide jobs on monthly salary basis, but the employers there were violating the MoU and giving jobs on daily-wage basis.
The officials said that only skilled people should apply for jobs and sign their contract letters very carefully.