MALAYSIA: DELIVERY OF DOL DEMARCHE ANNOUNCING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUALA LUMPUR 000753 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2019 TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI MY SUBJECT: MALAYSIA: DELIVERY OF DOL DEMARCHE ANNOUNCING RELEASE OF TVPRA LIST REF: SECSTATE 92560 Classified By: Political Counselor Brian McFeeters for reasons 1.4 b an d d. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: This is a response to an action request outlined in REFTEL. POLOFF delivered the Department of Labor (DOL) Demarche announcing the release of the Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) List on September 10 to Principal Assistant Secretary Muhammad Radzi Jamaludin, American Desk Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Radzi thanked us for the advance notice and responded that the GOM wants to work with the US to improve its enforcement efforts against labor trafficking. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) POLOFF delivered the Department of Labor Demarche to Principal Assistant Secretary Muhammad Radzi Jamaludin, American Desk Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 10, prior to the release and announcement of the report in Washington later that day. Pursuant to REFTEL, POLOFF explained that on September 10, the DOL would be releasing three items related to child labor and/or forced labor in numerous countries. POLOFF addressed several of the key points outlined in Paragraph 11 of REFTEL to explain that Malaysia was included on the DOL's TVPRA List because the DOL Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB) had reason to believe that goods in their garment and palm oil industry were produced by forced or child labor. He further noted that the reports would be available at www.dol.gov/ILAB/programs/ocft/tvpra.htm at 4:00 PM local time on September 10. ¶3. (SBU) Radzi responded that the news about Malaysia's listing in the report "was not so bad," and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had discussed labor issues in the garment and palm oil industries with GTIP Ambassador CdeBaca during his visit in late August. He pointed out that the GOM was already aware of its shortcomings in labor trafficking that were being highlighted in the TVPRA list. ¶4. (C) Radzi stated that the GOM is taking significant steps to address labor trafficking issues ) to include forced labor. He noted that much of the labor force in the garment and palm oil industries is Indonesian. He explained that some of Malaysia's forced labor problems arise from labor placement agencies in Indonesia. For example, many Indonesian workers lack the monetary resources to pay the travel costs and fees to work at a palm oil plantation in Malaysia. Instead, they ask their potential employers to pay the costs which the workers will pay off as they work on the plantation. Radzi acknowledged that this system can be, and had been, abused by employers. He pointed to the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that the GOM is currently negotiating with Indonesia, specifically noting that the GOM has removed language contained in its previous MOU that gave employers the right to confiscate migrant workers' passports. (Note: In recent meetings with Embassy Staff during Ambassador CdeBaca's visit, both Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Home Ministry Raja Azhar and Deputy Minister of Human Resources Datuk Maznah Mazlan separately mentioned that the new MOU would stop this policy. Instead, employers would be responsible for any advance payments. In conjunction with this policy shift, employers would no longer pay migrant workers in cash but instead be required to place their pay into a bank account in the migrant worker's name. This would provide an electronic trail through which the GOM could track whether employers were complying with the law and prosecute those who fail to do so. End Note). ¶5. (SBU) Radzi concluded by stating that the GOM is trying to take all of the U.S. reports constructively and that the GOM wants to work with the U.S. to improve its enforcement efforts against all forms of human trafficking, to include forced labor. KEITH