KUALA LUMPUR: An undocumented Indonesian woman who came to Malaysia for work claims that she had worked here for two years without leave.
Ratna, 38, said she found herself trapped in this situation after falling victim to an agent's scam promising decent work and pay in Malaysia.
She shared her ordeal as she was detained in an immigration operation, Op Sapu, at a condominium in Kepong here, last night.
"A few years ago, I entered Malaysia, if I'm not mistaken through Johor, to work for a local employer as a maid in Kota Damansara, but I fled because I couldn't endure it.
"For the first four months of work there, I didn't receive any salary at all because I had to pay for the travel expenses to get to Malaysia," she told Harian Metro.
The Bandung-born woman said that after about 5 months of working, she decided to escape because she couldn't bear the heavy workload.
She said she then got a job as a cleaner in a condominium around Kepong, here, and worked until she was detained in an enforcement operation by the Malaysian Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur because she had no valid documents.
"Here, I was paid RM2,000 a month for working eight hours every day without leave, sometimes only getting a half-day off, and even during public holidays, we had to work.
"If we take leave, even due to illness, no salary will be given. Pay is based on the days worked. I am a supervisor, and my subordinates are paid only RM1,400," she said.
Meanwhile, in the same operation, the Immigration Department detained three siblings from Myanmar along with hundreds of suspected counterfeit jerseys believed to have been sold online by one of the involved undocumented foreigners.
The eldest brother of the three siblings, Wi Yen, 21, admitted to receiving a pay of RM500 from a local resident to sell and store the jerseys at their residence.
"I've only been working here for a year after coming to Malaysia from Myanmar using an agent with a payment of RM3,000 two years ago.
"This pay is enough for me to eat and so on because rent and other bills are covered by the boss (employer)," said the young man who speaks Malay quite fluently.
A survey by Harian Metro journalists at the location found that most of the undocumented foreigners found working in the nearby area also lived in houses paid for by their respective employers.
In addition to the area's workers, foreign students studying at higher education institutions around the Klang Valley also resided in these homes.
