Managing Labour Migration in Malaysia: Guest Worker Programs and the Regularisation of Irregular Labour Migrants as a Policy Instrument

Abstract

Malaysia was built on immigration and, like other labour-importing countries, acknowledges the case for temporary labour migration as a solution to labour shortages in the country. The government has endorsed guest worker programs that are typically short term, and that include a range of restrictions to regulate the movement of low-skilled foreign workers. Most exclude explicit reference to labour protections. The State's low-skilled labour policy essentially vacillates between ensuring a continual supply of cheap labour and instigating crackdowns on undocumented migrants. Although the State originally imposed higher levies on skilled migrants, it has recently amended this policy and currently offers skilled migrants pathways to permanent residence and citizenship. Nevertheless, the sustained reliance on cheap labour and the way the policy is managed are preventing Malaysia from moving up the value chain. Additionally, the activities of labour brokers, disparities in the foreign labour levy system, and demand for labour have contributed to the expansion of irregular migration. Like other countries, Malaysia also relies on the regularisation of irregular migrants as a policy tool to extend legal status to undocumented economic migrants.

Irregular Migration In Malaysia: Amnesty And Voluntary Repatriation

“…Market factors, resulted from the state's economic growth and wage differentials between Malaysia and neighbouring countries, were the main pull factor drawing migrant workers, into construction, manufacturing, and plantations sectors in the 1970s. The tide of irregular migrants has been facilitated by the activities of recruitment agencies and social networks, paralleled by the development of Malaysian-Indonesian migration industries (Kaur, 2014;Garcés-Mascareñas, 2012). The influx of foreign labour has become a permanent phenomenon in Malaysia due to the structural problems of the labour market, which relies heavily on foreign workers for low-waged jobs (Lee, 2017).…”

NeoLiberalism and the Challenges of Managing Labour Migration in Urban Malaysia

“…This policy persists to this day where the response of the migration policy is always a response towards solving the problem of undocumented migrants within the country (Nah, ; Devadason and Meng, ; Chin and Mokhtar, ). Tight migration control through the freezing of new migrant labour recruitment, increasing levies to encourage local citizen recruitment and recurring amnesty program to reduce the number of undocumented migrants are just some of the responses towards managing labour migration in Malaysia (Killias, ; Kassim et al., ; Kaur, ). However, the steps taken to reduce undocumented migrants and encourage the hiring of local labours have not been very successful and have been unable to mitigate the number of undocumented migrants in Malaysia (Liow, ; Rajah, ; Devadason and Meng, ; Kassim et al., ).…”

Deportation Turn in Malaysia: Expansion, Discourse and Practice

“…Since the 1980s, forced deportation practices have been supplemented with periodic amnesty programs to encourage voluntary deportation (Devadason & Chan, 2014;Kassim & Mat Zin, 2011a;Kaur, 2014). In 2004, the government allowed undocumented workers to return on official permits to alleviate labor shortages (Devadason & Chan, 2014).…”

“…At the height of an economic recession, Malaysia responded by formulating foreign worker policies and signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand in the 1980s. The landmark 1984 Medan Agreement with Indonesia was the first bilateral initiative to resolve irregular immigration and regulate labor migration (Devadason & Chan, 2014;Jones, 2000;Kaur, 2014).…”