KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of workers at a Malaysian glove making factory are living in metal shipping containers in squalid conditions that one minister described as modern slavery, according to the human resources ministry and local media reports.
Ministry officials on Monday conducted a raid on a glove-making factory in Kajang district, just outside Kuala Lumpur, where they found workers living in cramped, dirty shipping containers stacked behind the premises, reports by broadcaster Astro Awani and news portal Free Malaysia Today said.
A ministry spokeswoman confirmed the reports to Reuters. She declined to name the factory raided but said it employed 781 workers, most of whom were migrants.
The discovery came as the Southeast Asian nation steps up scrutiny of workers’ accommodation at glove manufacturing firms after a COVID-19 outbreak at Top Glove, the world’s biggest maker of medical gloves.
Top Glove became the site of Malaysia’s biggest virus cluster after more than 5,000 workers were infected, while two other glove manufacturers have also reported outbreaks.
Human Resources Minister S. Saravanan said living conditions at the factory in Kajang were the worst he had ever seen.
“I don’t know how anyone could live like this,” he said in comments broadcast by Astro Awani. “This looks like modern slavery.”
In a separate Facebook post, Saravanan said the conditions at the factory violated Malaysian law on workers’ accommodation standards, and called on companies to provide proper living facilities to their employees.
Authorities have ordered the factory to close for seven days, citing conditions that could cause the spread of infectious diseases.
Malaysia has seen a spike in coronavirus cases since September, with more than 95,000 cases and 438 COVID-19 deaths reported.
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