Migrant workers flee Malaysia

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: Three Indonesian women have escaped from their labor placement agent in the Malaysian town of Miri after discovering that they were to be employed as sex workers.

The women, who introduced themselves as Dwi, 29, Feny, 20, and Anti, 20, told Antara on Saturday that they left their hometown Semarang after their agent offered them jobs as restaurant waitresses.

Upon arriving in Miri near the border with West Kalimantan on June 2, the three women learned that their agent had offered Feny to a man for 1,600 Malaysian ringgit.

They also found out later that their passports were fake.

A church employee brought them to the local police, who then sent them back to Indonesia. The three are now under the protection of the South Kalimantan chapter of Women's Association for Legal Aid (LBH APIK). (04)