Nusetti Santoshi, 23, borrowed money and traveled thousands of kilometers to Kuala Lumpur for an education and a better future, but ended up working as cheap labour. 

She said that she was promised free food, accommodation, an internship and a job upon graduation by the Malaysian private college, but is now RM20,000 poorer and does not even have access to her passport.

"The college has been holding my passport for over eight months. I had to refer to the India Embassy to get a special pass to remain here to get my refund (of the fees)," she said at an emotional press conference today.

According to migrant and workers' rights NGO Tenaganita program director Glorene Dass, Santoshi, an Indian national, is among 37 students from Greencity International College who have made similar complaints to the NGO.

The foreign students who come from various countries including Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Iran, were allegedly promised a diploma in cruise management, an internship at a five star hotel and upon graduation, a job placement on board a cruise ship.

Greencity, however, denies all claims. It says it does not withhold passports, and the promises were made by foreign agents in the students’ home country without the college’s consent.

A Greencity spokesperson also said that students were placed in jobs at hotels as part of their "hospitality internship" and not as cheap labour.

Students have bad attiude

Bhim Bahadur, a 26-year-old Nepali student has said that he was made to work at a hotel for more than 10 hours a day, but was paid only RM400 to RM600 per month.

"We were promised that after our internship, there was a 100 percent guarantee of a job on a cruise ship, but it has been already three months, we have received neither a job nor a refund."

Bhim (left) said the students had won at the tribunal of consumer claims, and the college was instructed to find them jobs or refund their fees.

Another student, Dikamber Nembang, said the course taught at the college differed to what he had signed up for in his home country.  

He also alleged that the students were also warned to not to speak to the media or the authorities regarding their plight or risk "be blacklisted, arrested or deported" from Malaysia.

Bhim said the students also won a case filed at the consumer’s tribunal, seeking the job placement or a refund two months from June 2 but to no avail.

While the college admits this, it denies that it is obliged to find jobs for the complainants.

The spokesperson, who declined to be named, claims that the complainants had failed to meet academic and "attitude" requirements to be placed in a job.

"The Nepali (students) have a bad attitude that even the Nepali embassy doesn’t want to entertain them (on this issue)," he said denying that the college issued threats.

"Why should we hold their passports? We don’t gain anything from doing so."

Human trafficking

According to Tenaganita, this is a growing form of human trafficking which has gone unnoticed.

"By holding their passports and keeping them here against their will, it shows another act of human trafficking that is being done through colleges," Glorene (below) said.

Tenaganita, who have been dealing with this issue since November last year, claims that there have been no actions from authorities despite complaints being made regularly.

"Deputy Education Minister, P Kamalanathan said the ministry would be looking into the matter, yet till today we still receive complaints," Glorene added.

It all boils down to "corruption", Tenaganita director Aegile Fernandez said.

"The whole idea behind this is corruption, if corruption in education places is stopped then the image of education in Malaysia would be improved."

Kamalanathan has not responded to Malaysiakini ’s request for comment.