First it was the sheikhdoms in the Persian Gulf. They brought cheap labor for their booming infrastructure-building from India and Pakistan. Then they found it even cheaper to bring from Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand and whichever struggling poor nations that would allow their people to go.
The M.O. was: the Arab recruiter was paid by the sheikhs or buinessmen to bring the labor. The recruiter then went to the south Asian agent who would pass on the buiness to a sub-agent in the labor source areas, like Goa. Payments or fees would be given by the selected laborers that would proportionately find its way to the top of the gravy train sometimes right up to the originator himself. As this train became common, it also became greedy. Sometimes there was no real jobs waiting for the end-labor. The means became the end. A powerful sheikh would get 300 blank visas for an imaginary project and the scam would be set in motion. The misery of "lucky ones" scrounging for the money by borrowing at usurious rates or selling the small landholding on which the family depended, or flogging off the wife's gold and the ornaments kept aside for children's marriages or many times a combination of all these, makes a sorry tale of misery. Fast forward that gravy train to today. Apple has just introduced its latest gadget in a marketing blaze of glory. Millions of sets are needed to be made at once. Apple is only the designer. The end product is created by Foxcomm the manufacturer. They depend on contractors and sub contractors and sub-sub-contractors for labor to make the product in Malaysia. Out goes the call to every nook and cranny in Nepal and elsewhere. The salary is USD 178 per month for 12 hour day shifts and fees to get the job are in the couple of thousands. The assembly "troops" are sent to Malaysia and put up in the usual miserable lodgings. For a couple of months, all is well. The full wages are sent to the family in Nepal and food is eaten at a nearby restaurant on credit, in Kuala Lumpur. Then Apple finds the product coming in is defective. They reject 7 out of 10. That link is not sustainable and is shut down. The misery starts. The restaurant stops credit, hunger and lack of money leads to desperation. The passports in possession of the contractor have work visas which are allowed to expire and the workers are now illegal. Malaysia is harsh with legals and one can imagine how illegals are treated. Workers in fear remain in the small rooms four per space, no venturing out. Apple is not the main culprit. They say they conduct audits on their supply chain and ban fees paid by workers beyond one month's salary. However they cannot regulate the numerous sub contractors involved. Recently they could not meet market demands of the IPhone 5 falling short by millions of units. They got 20% shaved off their share value because of this. Its not their fault. Tell Dhong and his wife Salome who are struggling with no landholding to survive on and only debts to pay. Dhong has to borrow more money to pay another agent for another job that he hopes will solve his troubles. Roland. Sent from Samsung Mobile
