No money and nothing to eat at times

Published by The StarOnline on 3 December 2012.

Manizel Mazano, from the Philippines, has only one wish – she just wants to be in a place where she can put her miserable experience at a maid agency behind her. “It was terrible. I had no money and nothing to eat at times as the bosses ordered me to work for the past six months. I have not seen any of my salary as well. The worst part is when they (maid agency owners) locked me in a room with other maids after work. I don’t have much to ask now. I just hope we are placed in a much better place after this,” the 22-year-old woman said yesterday at the district immigration office."

Mazano said she paid for her own travel expenses when she came to the country several months ago.

Adinda Tanas, 20, an Indonesian helper, said the agency owner was indifferent to their health. “I once complained of a swollen leg because I was standing too long but they did not care,” she said.

Adinda, who entered Malaysia on a social visit pass in May, also claimed she had not been paid her wages. When she questioned the agency about this, Adinda said she never got a proper answer.

Another Indonesian woman, Yusnida, who arrived here six months ago, said the agency had been bringing her and other women to different homes to work as maids from 5am to 8pm daily. “My hands and legs were swollen from the long hours of work every day. The agent only provided us with two meals a day. There was not enough food and the workload was heavy,” she said.

Yusnida had once asked to go home but was told by the agency that she could only leave once she could settle the cost in agency fees to bring her here.

Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/3/nation/12404814&sec=nation

Related report:
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=44629:105-foreign-maids-rescued-in-klang&Itemid=3

The Port Klang Immigration rescued 105 foreign women confined in a four-storey building of a maid agency in Bandar Baru Klang near here after raiding the premises yesterday. Selangor Immigration director, Amran Ahmad said the raid at about 7.45am found the women aged between 18 and 25 years, locked on three floors of the four-storey building, occupied by the maid agency.

"The women comprised 95 Indonesians, Filipinos (six) and Cambodians (four) who only had social visit passes and were believed to have entered the country between one and six months earlier," he said in a media conference here today.

He said 12 people were arrested, three of them were local men believed to be the agency employees, as well as nine foreign women supervisors, comprising five Indonesians, three Cambodians and one Filipino.

"Based on investigations, all women rescued were believed to be tricked into becoming maids on monthly and daily basis and were not paid wages after working for the past six months. All the women were sent by van every morning to houses around Klang to work as maids and would be confined in the building after work," he said.

Amran said the women were promised a salary of RM700 per month but have not received any money as the agency had claimed that their seven months salary would be charged as payment for working in the country. He said the licensed agency, believed to have been operating for the last five years, would be committing an offence for recruiting the women who have only social visit passes.

He said rescued women alleged they were roughed up and had their food rationed by the agency. Amran said the department was looking for a local man who is the owner of the maid agency to assist in the investigation. The operation was led by Immigration deputy director M. Chandran with 20 Port Klang immigration officers.

– Bernama