A dangerous precedent that will lead to discriminatory practices has been set by the Selangor Industrial Court in dismissing the case of 54 Indonesian workers claiming for unpaid wages.

Expressing 'shock and concern', migrant workers support group Tenaganita rebuked the court for failing to address the accountability and responsibility of employers who hire illegal workers.

"Does this mean employers now can get migrant workers to work and get away from non payment of wages as the workers have no legal mechanism to claim wages?" asked its director Irene Fernandez in a statement today.

She was responding to the court's decision yesterday, which threw out the case on the grounds that the claimants had entered the country illegally.

Fernandez recalled the words of Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn, who had asked that the workers be paid on humanitarian grounds.

"But the decision of the court states the reverse," she said.

The workers where among 90 illegal migrant workers who claimed that their employer -subcontractor Sri Mega Jaya - shortchanged them of wages amounting to RM150,000 after they had worked on a condominium project in Damansara Damai, Selangor since last September.

The main contractor of the project is Plato Construction, which is wholly-owned by MK Land Holdings - which is listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia.

MK Land has denied hiring illegal workers

Protects unscrupulous employers

Commenting further, Fernandez said the court's decision protects irresponsible and unscrupulous employers.

She also questioned the rational of the Immigration Act overriding the rights of the worker to a labour dispute like unpaid wages.

"Why should the Immigration Act be given the right to take away other rights? Why should one Act, then become more important than another Act that protects a whole set of different rights like labour?" she asked.

The labour activist said by using of the Immigration Act to deny the workers their claim, will in fact rob the workers of their right to access justice.

"By doing so, we are not upholding the principles of indivisibility and universality of rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Rights. The consequence of such a decision therefore, tends to be discriminatory and bias," she added.

Fernandez also took unscrupulous employers to task for denying the wages of poor Indonesian workers.

"Are we being unjust, inhuman and unaccountable? It is imperative that employers, especially employers who are profiteering from workers and exploiting them be made accountable," she said.

She said if Malaysia cannot ensure protection of the rights of migrant workers, then it should stop recruitment and employment of migrant workers.

"The denial of migrant workers' rights will only develop a culture of abuse and exploitation. Why should an employer in Malaysia take in local workers when he can take in undocumented

migrant workers and get away with non payment of wages?" she added.

Fernandez said wages should be part of the costs so when wages are not paid to the workers who have given time, energy and commitment to their task or labor activity, the employer is intentionally embezzling the migrant workers wages.

"It is a theft and is a sin," she stressed.