Migrant Immigration In Malaysia Case Study

The Migration Panorama in Malaysia by Sch. Nalerin Erone Nahfirin, SJ

This article is meant to be a preparation material for the Jesuits Scholastic and Brother Circle (SBC) meeting held in Jesuit Apostolic Center and Sogang University, Seoul, Korea on December 19 to 28, 2016.

Introduction “Malaysia, truly Asia” is a slogan launched by the Tourism Malaysia since 1999 to promote Malaysia as one of the exceptional tourist destinations in the world. Since then, Malaysia has brought more than 7.4 million tourists from all over the world (Munan 2002). Ironically, the slogan is not only capture the essence of the country’s unique diversity, but also illustrates the social dilemma of the immigrant labors faced by the country. Owing to its inclusive

However, Malaysia is not only magnetizing many tourists, but somehow flocked many foreigners to settle in Malaysia for a living and hoping for a better life (Lek 2016).

The purpose of this paper is to put on view the various dilemmas faced not only the Malaysian government, non-governmental organization and civil society concerning the issue of the migrant labor in Malaysia, but also to demonstrate the struggles of the foreign immigrant to cope with the policies and responses of the country. The main aim of this paper is to improve understanding of migration in Malaysian context, as well as to prompt reflection on migration and its link to the issues of poverty and injustice for the sustainable development of promotion of human dignity. Brief Statistics of Foreign Labor in Malaysia

In the history of Malaysia, according to Jeffrey Hays, the country had suffered from labor

Coupled with lax enforcement and the absence of an effective mechanism to manage migrant workers, has resulted in millions of foreigners outstaying their employment contracts (Lek 2016). On the other hand, the foreign workers also confronting with high risk of xenophobic threats and a terrible racial discriminations by the Malaysian government (Aw 2016). Hays explained that the foreign workers are barred from marrying local women, opening bank accounts, changing jobs or traveling. He quoted the founder of the Tenaganita group, Irene Fernandez, saying that the foreign workers are constantly stopped, questioned and arrested even when they have valid documents. During a 1998 "Operation Get Out" campaign, illegal workers were rounded up and placed in detention centers. Their heads were shaved and they were loaded on boats and sent back to Indonesia. By hook or by crook, they kept coming back to Malaysia by boat from Indonesia because the economic situation there was worse than Malaysia (Hays