THERE are some two million foreign workers, of whom half are believed to be illegal immigrants.

Male workers are involved in the construction, plantation and services sectors while female workers are usually brought in as maids.

These foreign workers are willing to perform tasks which, in many instances, are dangerous, demeaning and dirty.

In most cases, foreign workers would have paid hefty sums to agents back home to get permits to work in Malaysia.

They also pay for their own air tickets. They arrive with heavy debts. At the airport, many unscrupulous agents and employers take advantage of their naivety and ignorance.

Many workers find themselves stranded at the KLIA because the agents or their employers absconded with their money.

Last year, a floor of the car park in the airport terminal was converted to a place of refuge for these stranded workers.

The fortunate ones are picked up by their agents at the airport on arrival and sent to their employers.

Some employers provide them with decent accommodation, food and working conditions. Some foreign workers, however, are not so lucky.

The media has highlighted the plight of some foreign workers who have been subjected to abuse.

A few years ago, the nation was shocked over a foreign worker who starved to death.

There have also been cases of foreign workers who were physically and emotionally abused.

In some extreme cases, workers have been found chained, locked up and starving.

It is cruel and inhuman to deny any man his wages. Unfortunately, there are employers who cheat these workers of their hard- earned money. There have been many reports of wages not being paid to these workers for months. Maybe that’s why some foreign workers resort to crime.

When foreign workers demand for their wages, drastic action is taken by the employers, as in the incident involving 30 Bangladeshi workers in Juru recently (”Bangladeshi workers locked out of their hostel” — NST, Jan 11).

Even professional workers have not been spared, as in the case of the two professional dancers from India (”Abused dance teachers get their money, returning home” — NST, Jan 8).

There have been many cases of foreign maids who have been abused by their employers. Many have run away or risked life and limb by jumping from buildings to escape.

On the other hand, there are families who treat their maids well, regarding them as part of the family, giving them days off and paying them good allowances.

Yet, some run away.

This is no surprise as a live-in maid’s work in this country often entails 24 hours of work a day, seven days a week, involving everything from taking care of children to washing cars for a mere RM400 a month. We are paying them a pittance compared with what maids get in Singapore and Hong Kong. It is no wonder that local girls do not opt to be maids.

Knowingly or unknowingly, some of us have subjected these foreign workers to injustice, pain and misery.

Though these incidents do not happen often, they occur often enough to warrant concern about our attitudes and values towards lowly-paid foreign workers.

Source: NST – January 21, 2008