A migrant workers activist based in Penang says Malaysia deserves to be downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest level, in the recently published human trafficking report of the State Department of the United States.

The chairperson of the Episcopal Commission for Migrants and Itinerants in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Sudhagaran Stanley, said it was because migrant workers continued to be "cheated, abused and live in deplorable conditions" in Malaysia.

Sudhagaran said NGOs have tried very hard in the past to invite Malaysian government officers for meetings, for strategic planning and even feedback sessions, but most of them never came for the sessions.