Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
"This flexibility in labour market should be supported by the flexibility
in immigration policies which should include macro policies of both the countries
of origin and destination," said the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and
Transmigration, director of socialisation and guidance for overseas employment
Dr Endang Sulistyaningsih.
<p>Presenting a paper at the Law Association for Asia and Pacific (Lawasia) Labour
Law Conference here, she said while there was no ideal solution given the unique
circumstances of each country, there was growing realisation among policy makers
that any strategy to reduce illegal migrant workers should not be focused narrowly
on preserving existing policies.</p>
<p>"Rather, the approach is to increase mobility of labour which is flexible,
create jobs and increase welfare of both the countries of origin and destination,"
she added.</p>
<p>Dr Endang said in the efforts to improve the immigration policy and current
system, three widely shared principles must be kept in mind.</p>
<p>"Firstly, government policies, even if they do not work perfectly, do
make a difference in the how and how many immigrants arrive, how they are treated
within the country, and whether they return or stay.</p>
<p>"Secondly, the overall economic benefits of moving workers over borders
are positive, as individual migrants and their employers are better off and
regional GDP (gross domestic product) rises as more workers have higher wage
jobs. Thirdly, in a world of laws and rights, it would be best for everyone
if labour migration is legal and orderly," she said.</p>
<p>It must be noted that Indonesia contributed the bulk of the migrant workers
in the South East Asian region, especially in Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia
alone had some 1.1 million Indonesian migrant labour.</p>
<p>Dr Endang said immigration policies of countries importing and exporting labour
must be flexible, efficient and transparent.</p>
<p>In terms of flexibility, she said the policy must be able to increase foreign
labour supply when the demand was high and at the same time restrict access
to these workers when the demand dwindled.</p>
<p>She said an efficient immigration policy must be able to process a foreign
worker’s application speedily with minimal paperwork while transparency would
ensure migrant workers and employers knew their obligations and responsibilities.</p>
<p>"A migration policy framework for effectively supporting labour migration
programme must be a comprehensive and integrated package and must include an
informed and transparent labour migration admission system designed to respond
to measured and legitimate needs, taking into account domestic labour concern
as well.</p>
<p>"Such a system must rely on regular labour market assessments to identify
and respond to current and emerging needs of workers, high or low skilled,"
Dr Endang said.</p>
<p>She said to ensure that the regulatory framework in the border area operated
successfully, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms must be introduced and that
enforcement activity could range from warnings, administrative and penal sanctions
such as fines and imprisonment. — BERNAMA
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