Beacon of hope for TN labourers in Malaysia

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 29, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/beacon-of-hope-for-tn-labourers-in-malaysia/298907.html

CHENNAI: For thousands of migrants from Tamil Nadu now working in different places in Malaysia or held at detention camps for visa-related issues, social worker T Kamalanathan is nothing less than a messiah on foreign soil.

With his consistent efforts, both Chinnasamy and Gibir Ali, who were held at one of the detention camps in Malaysia for expired visas, returned to India on Thursday.

Since 2007, Kamalanathan had rescued more than 1,500 such workers from Tamil Nadu, who were lured with handsome jobs by their agents in Malaysia and finally landed in government-run detention camps for not possessing proper visa or permits for working in the country.

An expected help to affected migrants in the alien nation, which was started in a small way in 2007 by the Serdang-born Kamalanathan, finally developed into a full-fledged social support mechanism for Indians, particularly Tamil migrant workers, who lacked proper representation with the Indian High Commission in case of detention at these camps. 

“I feel happy to help and represent those migrant labourers, who were cheated by their job agents and slowly losing hope at these detention camps,” said Kamalanathan in an email interview to Express.

With the coordination of the Tamil Nadu-based NGO, Migrant Employees Education for Transformation, Prevention and Protection Union (MEETPPU), the Kuala Lumpur-based social worker works for the welfare of migrant workers in that country.

With his work now expanded to several hundred people and Tamil labourers always approaching him for representing them at the High Commission, Kamalanathan is planning to start an NGO by the name Malaysia Global Rescue Organisation.

Sivasomasundaram of MEETPPU would send details on labourers who went to Malaysia from Tamil Nadu and went missing there. Based on the details, Kamalanathan would visit the detention camps and gather more information to pass them on to the Indian High Commission.

Once the labourers are traced, Kamalanathan would fulfil all legal formalities with both the Malaysian authorities and the Indian High Commission and send them back to India. He would also mobilise funds to meet travel expenses by air up to Chennai or Trichy airport.