As Hindus in Malaysia celebrated Deepavali with family and friends on Monday, a group of Indian migrant workers spent a joyless day fearing for their future.

For the 45 Indian nationals, their 'festival of lights' was a particularly dismal affair as they waited in a church shelter for resolution to their work contract predicament.

Following a disagreement with their employer last week, the migrant workers are now jobless, with no home to go to, and no money.

"Some of them had sold their land and houses. Others sold their wives' jewellery to come here. What is there for them to return India to? Some of them are suicidal thinking about it," said an exasperated Aegile Fernandez, the migrant desk coordinator for labour rights organisation Tenaganita.

Adding further to the plight of these men is the reluctance of their own government representatives at the Indian High Commission to assist them.

Return to India

The workers were brought in to Malaysia in staggered groups since June this year by Gopis Construction Sdn Bhd, a Port Dickson-based firm.

After completing a short project at a Sitiawan plant, where they were subcontracted, the workers were asked to work in Johor a move they refused for fear of running foul of foreign worker employment laws which forbid work transfers without prior approval from the Immigration Department.

One of the migrant workers, D Neelambera Rao, narrated what they did next.

"We arrived at the high commission on Wednesday morning to seek help but only managed to speak with an official late in the afternoon. At closing time, they told us to leave the compound and return the next day although it was raining and we had nowhere else to go to," he said.

The workers were only spared the fate of spending the night on the streets when a family in the neighbourhood provided them with shelter for the night.

With the intervention of Tenaganita the following day, the workers moved to the St Francis Xavier's church in Petaling Jaya where they remain till today.

"The high commission has told us to return to India. They told us we would have to call our families to send money over, and they can help us arrange the flight tickets," said Neelambera.

Salaries unpaid

However, Tenaganita has criticised this arrangement as being the easiest 'solution' for all parties involved in the matter with the exception of the workers.

"The employer now does not want these workers. The high commission's work would be a lot easier if the workers would agree to pay their own tickets back to India.

"But what about the workers? How can they return empty-handed to their families?" questioned Fernandez.

According to the men, most of them were first offered the opportunity to work in Malaysia by employment agents visiting their villages in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

"We had to pay RM10,000 each to come here. We were told that we would get work permits for three years. We had to pay to sit for tests to prove our skills," said Neelambera.

"We even had to stay at our own costs in Chennai for three months because they told us that there was difficulty in getting our work permits."

Furthermore, on starting their jobs in Malaysia, the men were promised salaries ranging between RM600 for general workers and RM1,500, if they are qualified to work as welders.

"Some of us came in as welders and fitters but later, they asked all of us to do odd-jobs like picking up rubbish and sweeping the floor. We did not come all the way here to do these jobs. We are qualified for other things," said Neelambera, adding that their employer also did not discuss if their pay would be cut accordingly.

As punishment for leaving their work sites, the workers' latest salaries had been withheld. For four workers who arrived only last month, the dispute also meant that they have not been paid at all since they started working.

"They have no money. The other workers are now helping to support them," said Neelambera.

Contacted on Sunday, the owner of Gopis Construction, VK Lingam, refused to comment on the workers' situation beyond saying that the workers had organised an illegal strike and 'ran away' from his site.

Dark times ahead

Meanwhile, Fernandez said a possible solution to the workers' problems would be to allow them to work for another employer.

"They are afraid to work for their present employer. However, some employers who are members of the church have offered to hire them after hearing of their plight.

"But we will have to see if permits could be arranged for them," she said.

Meanwhile, the migrant workers can do nothing but to cling on to this hope, and their families back home will have to find ways of surviving without their support for many more weeks to come.