The Malaysian Insight

MIGRANT workers, both documented and undocumented, should be added to the government’s assessments on poverty as part of policy reforms to help the poor, said a United Nations expert.

This is because the high number of foreigners and their participation in the economy affect living standards and wages for Malaysians, said UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Prof Philip Alston. 

Undocumented workers, for which the government has no official number, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous employers and labour agents, Alston told reporters after an 11-day working visit to Malaysia.

The government’s latest statistics put the population of documented foreign workers at 1.93 million, while it is speculated that the number of undocumented labourers is double that.

Others claim that the total population of foreigners in the country, whether they are here legally or not, or are refugees, could be about six million.

“Millions of non-citizens, including migrants, refugees and stateless people, are barred from the public school system and face severe barriers to healthcare,” Alston said.

“They are unable to work legally, yet are systematically excluded from official poverty statistics,” he said. 

“Six million out of a population of 31 million is a lot. Their presence, how they are treated and how they are paid can depress wages for Malaysians,” Alston said.  

On his working visit to Malaysia, Alston met diverse groups in Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan.

The tour saw Anson’s entourage meeting government officials, academics, civil society bodies and residents affected by poverty in urban and rural areas.

Among the sites he visited included soup kitchens, a woman’s shelter, a children’s crisis centre, low-cost flats, a centre for the disabled, indigenous communities, villages and schools.

Unions and economists have long argued that Malaysia’s dependence on cheap, unskilled foreign labour has depressed wages for Malaysians.  

Malaysian employers, however, argue that Malaysians are reluctant to work these “dirty jobs”, most of which are in the services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Despite the Malaysian economy’s dependence on migrants, Alston said that they were highly at risk of being exploited by a combination of unscrupulous recruitment agents and employers, harsh immigration policies and a lack of enforcement on labour laws.

“Many workers arrive in the country already in considerable debt to agents, and find that the conditions of employment are poorer than promised,” Alston said in a report released yesterday.

“Enforcement of labour standards also do not seem to have improved under the new government.”

The government ought to acknowledge the existence, role and vulnerability of migrant workers in policymaking, and start by coming up with a definitive estimate of their population and include them in poverty statistics, he added.

Putrajaya should also increase its enforcement of labour laws, to ensure that these vulnerable groups can seek justice in court without fear of deportation and extend standard protections to domestic workers.

“The whole economy is better off if migrant workers, both documented and undocumented, are able to access affordable healthcare without fear of deportation and ensure that stateless children get access to public schools.” – August 24, 2019.