05/06/2026
1. Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia Minister Johari Abdul Ghani claims that Malaysia does not practice forced labour. For years, the International Labour Organization, International Organisation for Migration and UN Human Rights - Asia have constantly flagged Malaysia for forced labour abuses. For migrant workers, debt bo***ge, one of the ILO Forced Labour Indicators, begins before a worker sets foot in the country, and passport confiscation and wage theft are widespread. Minister, you need better advisors. And you need them urgently.
2. Yesterday, the US proposed a 10% tariff on Malaysian goods, citing forced labour violations. But let’s be clear, the US is no saint on labour rights. It is a country that has ratified only 2 of the 10 fundamental ILO conventions, still allows prison labour and where half a million undocumented workers harvest American crops under constant deportation threats.
3. It is clear that Washington does this when it’s convenient. However, the biggest tragedy is that Malaysia has also made itself an easy target by allowing weak enforcement, unethical recruitment, debt bo***ge risks and impunity to drag on. Every year of inaction was an invitation.
4. So the question is not whether the US is hypocritical. Of course, it is. Why has Malaysia left its workers so exposed that hypocrites can weaponise their suffering? This is a clear example of how our governance failures are amounting to geopolitical consequences. Whatever happened to Malaysia’s National Action Plan on Forced Labour? Dead?
5. Reform is not complicated. It is just politically uncomfortable for the people profiting from the status quo. Mandate the employer pays principle. Make bilateral labour agreements binding and transparent. Blacklist unethical recruiters. Protect whistleblowers. Eliminating forced labour should be part and parcel of any business plan we have in this country.
6. We should not wait for a country with its own labour abuses to tell us workers matter. We have ratified conventions. We have the legal architecture. What we don’t have is the political will. Anwar Ibrahim
