Saravanan to visit Geneva, to focus on forced labour issue

Apart from that, the working visit will also focus on Malaysia's participation as a pathfinder country under the United Nations (UN) Alliance 8.7.

In a statement today, Saravanan said both agendas will have a positive impact on Malaysia's tier ranking in the Trafficking in Persons Report and other human rights platforms.

"The Human Resource Ministry has conducted various engagement sessions with relevant ministries and government agencies as a preparation to ratify Protocol 29," he said.

He said Malaysia also stands to acquire technical assistance from the UN and ILO for awareness and capacity building programmes as well as access to good practices from other pathfinder countries.

On Nov 26 last year, Saravanan said Malaysia has agreed to ratify Protocol 29 as a testament to the government's commitment to eradicate forced labour. The government has also endorsed Malaysia's participation as a pathfinder country under Alliance 8.7.

According to the minister, the protocol is a supplementary protocol to the Forced Labour Convention (Convention 29) which was ratified by Malaysia in 1957.

Elaborating, he said Protocol 29 outlines the country's obligation to take effective measures in terms of legislation, policy and programmes to address and eradicate forced labour, and at the same time serves as a guide for the government to prevent and eliminate forced labour practices in line with the international labour standards.

Meanwhile, Saravanan said he would also make a working visit to Jakarta, Indonesia in April to meet his counterpart Ida Fauziyah to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Indonesia Domestic Worker.