REMEDYING UNETHICAL RECRUITMENT IN MALAYSIA’S TRANSNATIONAL LABOUR MIGRATION GOVERNANCE
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Abstract
Although state actors in labour-receiving and sending countries developed ethical recruitment initiatives, such initiatives did not function as intended without full compliance from industry stakeholders. The complexity in the global supply chain undermined various ethical recruitment initiatives undertaken in Malaysia, such as the zero-cost recruitment policy of Malaysian companies, the Nepal-Malaysia zero-cost migration Memorandum of Understanding, and Nepal’s Free Visa, Free Ticket policy. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intervention overcame the hurdles faced by these unilateral and bilateral efforts. In response to the imposed trade sanctions imposed by the CBP, business enterprises in Malaysia developed remediation plans to reimburse recruitment fees previously paid by their foreign workers. Such remediation programs were unprecedented in Malaysia’s labour recruitment industry. This paper suggests that the remediation of recruitment fees by business enterprises is important in realising ethical recruitment because it addresses the adverse effect of fraudulent recruitment practices, enhances corporate responsibility, protects foreign workers from debt bondage, and supports the principle of zero-cost migration.
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