The cabinet's decision to freeze the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers does not address nor resolve the problems in recruitment and management of migrant workers in the country. It is unjust.

The Malaysian government, in particular the Home Ministry has been in a continuous state of self-denial to the various problems faced by migrant workers. Its recalcitrant behaviour and schizophrenic ad-hoc policies have created the mess.

Its policy of outsourcing has bungled up the whole recruitment and placement of workers, in particular workers from Bangladesh. The outsourcing companies are very much linked with patronage politics where their goal is to make fast money from the poor workers.

From the cases we have handled, the problem lies on the outsourcing companies who "sell" the workers to agents who then keep them in captive and make use of them for temporary work without paying their wages. The end result is trafficking in persons.

The Home Ministry gives approval to outsourcing companies within 24 hours without a proper process of verification. There is lack of transparency and thus corruption has set into the whole process.

Therefore, why do we blame the workers? And why do we deny the right of these workers to come to the country to work when there is a need for them? The workers have followed all the procedures that they are expected to do so before departure.

The problem arises when they come to Malaysia. Thus it is clear that the Bangladesh government has done its best to ensure that the workers are recruited and sent within the terms and conditions stipulated by the Malaysian government.

The Malaysian government, especially Home Minister Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, must take the blame. It's the establishment of outsourcing companies (more than 230 companies) to provide workers to companies that require less than 50 workers that has created the chaos and the abuse of migrant workers.

There is no monitoring mechanism and no accountability on the part of these companies. They are allowed to act with impunity. The Home Ministry is not even capable of handling a single case effectively.

For example, the PTC Pacific workers case was brought to the attention of the Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry three months ago. But to date their problem has not been solved. Instead, there are excuses and excuses.

Furthermore, the Human Resources Ministry complicates the issue by now making the workers to go to the Labour Departments at the various places where they had worked. The problem could be easily resolved if one Labour Department, which is closest to the registered address of the company, takes the complaint and ensures unpaid wages are paid quickly.

Recruitment and employment of migrant workers cannot be seen as business to make huge profits from the poor. It is unjust and inhuman. Workers are not commodities but human beings. The answer does not lie from moving from one country to another but by taking the horn of the bull to address this long overdue problem

The recruitment and placement of workers must be seen as an important service to employers who need the workers where the rights of the workers are protected at every stage of recruitment, placement and employment.

Time and again, Tenaganita has called on the government to establish a comprehensive policy on the recruitment and employment of migrant workers. The call has also been made by the Malaysian Employers Federation. Yet it has fallen on deaf ears.

The question is who is benefitting from the recruitment of migrant workers? If the government wants to arrest the corruption being ingrained in the recruitment of migrant workers, then it must have a comprehensive policy that is holistic, rights-based, transparent and which creates an enabling environment for labour harmony. Otherwise, both the home minister and human resources minister should resign.

The writer is director of Tenaganita.