Irene Fernandez

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Irene Fernandez (*1946) is the director and co-founder of the non-governmental organization Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers and other oppressed and poor people in Malaysia. They had been given the promise of getting support for their families at home by the rich, but instead, they got cheated and had to suffer malnutrition, torture and sexual abuse.

In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers. She was arrested in 1996 and charged with 'maliciously publishing false news'. After seven years of trial, she was found guilty in 2003 and imprisoned for one year. Her civil rights are now restricted, but she carries on her everyday life and continues her work.

In 2005, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers".