Illegal immigrants in Malaysia comprise a substantial portion of the Malaysian population, numbering as many as two million by some estimates. Most of them are from nearby Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. Illegal migrants tend to take odd jobs unpalatable to the local populace, such as working in construction sites and agricultural sectors . Although their presence in Malaysia is against the law, the Malaysian government has not made a serious effort to deport illegal migrants until early 2005, when it was feared that displaced Indonesians affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami would swamp the country. On June 15, 2009 the US State Department included Malaysia as one of the worst offenders of human trafficking in their blacklist of governments it believes are not doing enough to stop it in their "Trafficking in Persons" report.[1]
Illegal immigration describes people entering a country without formal permission. There are many views on illegal immigration, depending on political standpoint:[2]
Many types of migrant are consider Illegal immigrant, this includes those without any travel documents, refugee, runaway workers, workers working in different sector than stated in their work permit, overstay, fake travel documents, fake work permit, fake MyKard, fake UN Card, stateless as well as those born in Malaysia by illegal immigrants.
In 2005, it was confirmed by the Malaysian government that there were 1.8 million registered and legal foreign workers, and that the number of illegal immigrants was as high as 5 million in both East and West Malaysia, including refugees. The nations home to the highest percentages of the illegal immigrant population were Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar/Burma, India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, Africa, and China.[3][4] The government's estimate may be a conservative number, however. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have placed the number of illegal immigrants in the state of Sabah alone in the realm of two million, comprising two-thirds of the state's population.[5]
Since 2000, the Malaysian government has been trying to combat illegal immigration by imposing stiffer fines, and introducing caning for illegal immigrants arrested and those who employ them. Kosmo! reported that illegal immigrants only need to pay RM450 to either get into, or out of, the country by boat.[6]
To accelerate the deportation of illegal immigrants, an amnesty program has been launched since 2004 for all illegal immigrants willing to go home. Under the program, illegals will not be imprisoned or suffer heavy fines. Illegal immigrants need to produce a valid passport or travel document, and must pay RM300 for compound and RM100 for a Special Pass. Illegal immigrants who approach immigration directly have to pay the standard compound, if they apply through Pangkal Rezeki Sdn Bhd, the company appointed by the Malaysian government with exclusive ability to register and process for the amnesty program. The company collects RM700 in total - RM300 for compound, RM100 for the special pass, and the balance for the commission and processing fee. Illegal immigrants can either approach the company directly, or go through a list of private agents all over Malaysia who might fix a price of between RM750 to RM1500. This amnesty program was called Program Penghantaran Pulang Pati (Major Repatriation Program), also known as 4P.[7]
After the tsunami of 2004, the government announced plans to forcibly repatriate as many illegal immigrants as possible, with harsh punishments — including steep fines and heavy whippings — imposed on those who disobeyed or aided illegal immigrants in their efforts to remain in Malaysia. The original deadline set was February 1, 2005; by this date, 400,000 had already left voluntarily. Due to the effectiveness of their efforts, the government announced they would not launch the crackdown as planned, delaying it to an undetermined date.[4][8]
Although by virtue of their illegal status, illegal immigrants may not apply for Malaysian citizenship, some have attempted to procure it illegally by buying MyKads and passports on the black market. In Sabah, it was reported that 800,000 MyKads had been issued to people who eventually left the state. As Indonesians who have citizenship would be classified as Malay under Article 160 of the Constitution, it has been feared that thousands of illegal immigrants not only received privileges meant for Malaysian citizens, such as the right to vote, but also privileges meant for the Bumiputra, which include allocations of public shares, discounts on real estate, etc.[5]
It has been claimed by opposition politician Jeffrey Kitingan that there are 1.7 million illegals in Sabah, of whom 600,000 have obtained MyKads. Kitingan has accused these illegals of exercising the right to vote, and also of falsely claiming Bumiputra status.[9] There are allegations that there is some form of systematic granting of citizenship which is known as Project IC, or Project M.
This question, though straightforward, is extremely complex, and ties with various issues that may seem insignificant to Malaysia, but contribute to the cause of illegal immigrants.
As the economy of Malaysia improves, more and more demand for foreign labor is required to fill in the intense labor market for palm oil, construction, domestic helpers, restaurants and other job sectors that Malaysians shun.
For a typical employer to engage a foreign worker, they are first required to show cause that they are unable to employ any Malaysian workers by submitting their request form through JCS (www.jobmalaysia.gov.my). After a 60 days grace of unsuccessful recruitment, they may then submit their application through KDN (www.kdn.gov.my), together with the numbers of foreign workers required. Once granted, employers would have obtain approval to go ahead to the Department of Immigration of Malaysia (www.imi.gov.my) for the rest of the government processing and payment of levy. Usually employers go through agencies and agents to procure the foreign workers with the necessary approval and payment receipt. The agency or agent would than service them the rest of the way. Agencies and agents are not usually paid by the employer; instead they profit from commission charged the foreign workers. The amount usually ranges from a one time US$300 to US$400 per head count, which many believe is reasonable and affordable.
However, companies that are entitled to engage foreign workers would have to comply with the straight requirements of various government bodies. This hampers the need of small business owners, thus creating a demand for illegal workers.
Indonesians account for the largest number of illegal immigrants in Malaysia, most working in various sectors like common Malaysians, as well as jobs that Malaysians are unwilling to work. The majority of them are sub-contractors on plantations for palm oil, or working for sub-contractors of plantation companies. Construction is the other industry flooded with illegal immigrants from Indonesia.
Work in Indonesia is usually for very low pay; sweatshops paying US$1 are all over Indonesia. Insufficient funding for infrastructure causes mass unemployment, as well as harsh working conditions. This constitutes the reason for an increasing number of Indonesians being willing to travel abroad to work, or even seek a better life.
Prior to the ban of Domestic Helpers to Malaysia by the Indonesian government due to political reasons, tens of thousand of Indonesian maids were deployed to Malaysia every day. In most case, a large percentage of these maids had no intention of working for their original employers. In the case of Indonesian maids, all their expenses to deploy to Malaysia are paid for, as well as cash payments to their families of up to RM1,000. In exchange, they need to guarantee to their Indonesian agent that they will stick to their employers for at least 3 months. More than 75% of these Indonesian maids choose to run away from their employers for various factors, including abuse by employers, better salary offers, to reunite with their relatives in Malaysia, or just to seek a better life compared to what they had enjoyed in Indonesia.
Because the Indonesian and Malay languages are virtually the same, most Indonesians feel very comfortable communicating in Malaysia; and because most small business owners are fluent in Malay, it is much more convenient for them to hire Indonesians, whether illegal or legal.
However, ever since the Project IC was launched, more and more foreigners have been flooding Sabah, hoping one day to gain a Malaysian IC, where they could then go to other greener pastures like Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, USA and other developed countries using Malaysian citizenship.[10]
With the hard life of Muslim Filipinos in the Southern Philippines, including terrorism, lack of governmental support, unemployment, and other internal issues, many feel a desperate necessity to find a better life or safety elsewhere. Sabah in Malaysia, being only an hour away by boat ride from major ports in the southern Philippines, has become a favored destination for Filipino refugees. Malaysia being a Muslim country, and unable to reject the urgent needs of fellow Muslims, has no choice but to allow refugees from the Philippines to enter Sabah. These refugees are granted temporary amnesty while in the country. With an increasing number of Filipino nationals settling in the Sabah region, more and more of their relatives and friends have come to join them. Filipino flea markets, traders, and goods have begun to mushroom all over Sabah to cater to the needs of Filipino expats there, thus making their life more comfortable and acceptable.
Many Filipinos come to both Sabah and West Malaysia to seek work, in most case honestly willing to process a valid work permit for themselves. However, their own government has put official pressure on the Malaysian government to act according to the POEA rules and regulations, thus making most of these Filipinos unable to acquire any work permit, and eventually forcing them to be illegal. Some of these work permit regulations include; that workers be at least 23 years old, with a US$400 minimum monthly salary, dental care to be provided by employer, and expensive POEA processing through Philippine manpower agencies. These issues causes problems for typical Filipinos, who have either no money to pay for the expensive processing, or employers unwilling to pay for the expensive demands. To make matters worse, the Philippines has demanded of Malaysian immigration that all Filipino applications be accompanied by a POEA endorsement/acknowledgement, and to reject all applications without it. This has caused even more Filipinos to be disqualified, thus creating a huge number of illegals on both sides of Malaysia, especially those who are already there. When Filipinos start finding cheaper ways to enter Malaysia to work, more and more Philippine regulation has made this resolve impotent. Those assisting Filipinos to work outside the Philippines, without going through POEA, are considered human traffickers. Passengers departing the Philippines, who are suspected of being illegal workers, are often offloaded while in the airport and their passports confiscated. To save cost, employers and employee would process their POEA documents without any involvement of Philippine manpower agencies, this came to a abrupt end in 2008 when POEA disallow any form of processing without going through Philippine manpower agencies.[11] [12][13]
One of the factors that contributes to the rise of illegal immigrants, is the "Outsourcing license" launched by the Malaysian government, for companies employing foreign workers. Under the "Outsourcing license", companies are granted a preapproved quota for the number of workers to be imported to Malaysia. Upon filling the quota, the companies could simply reapply for an extended quota. The concept of Outsourcing cut much of the red tape that had been required for employers who engaged foreign workers, as well as for those who did not. For this reason, Outsourcing companies began to charge exorbitant prices for each quota they leased out. The price could range from RM800 to RM1800 per year, on top of the levy, insurance, medical examination and cost of a banker's guarantee. Employers, mostly small time business owner, unable to afford the costly overheads, decided they would rather engage in the employment of illegal workers.[14]
From 2006 to 2008, numerous Outsourcing companies contributed to the huge influx of Bangladesh workers, most of whom are illegal now. Bangladeshi agents, when recruiting these individuals in their country, usually promised them higher pay and benefits than was actually agreed upon. Agents in Bangladesh would then collect up to RM7,000 to RM9,000 as placement fees from the candidates. This amount covers the airline ticket, processing, and commission for Malaysian agents of up to RM2500 per head. Agents in Malaysia would bring them in and lease them out on a daily or monthly basis, with salary as low as RM17.50 per day. Although these activities had been practiced by agents prior to the launch of "Outsourcing license", the launch of this license contributes to even more Bangladesh being imported, due to the pre-approval. Agents would deploy workers by the thousands at a time, becoming millionaires overnight. However, the Bangladeshis' being unaccustomed to Malaysian work conditions, and their refusal to work for a salary lower than had been promised by their Bangladeshi agent, led many to run away from their employers, preferring to take their chances for better pay, work conditions or even living quarters.[15]
Usually the Outsourcing companies rely on the commission that they were to obtain from their Bangladeshi counterpart, to feed and support these workers until reliable employers are found for them. However, in many cases, Bangladeshi agents fail to pay the commission and utilize the approval obtained by their Malaysian counterpart to deploy these workers. Upon the workers' arrival in Malaysia, the Outsourcing companies are required to clear and collect them at the airport, regardless of the commission problem. Outsourcing companies and agents, shaken by the cost of food and lodging, thus have an incentive to allow these unpaid workers to run away and seek their own fortune, rather than take responsibility.
Gurkhas is what most of us had heard, this are names for Nepalese whom are trained in the army. A nation of Buddhism, Nepalese are known for their friendliness and hard working. Gurkhas are known around the world for their loyalty, bravery as well as their training. Ever since civil war broke out in Nepal, many Nepalese choose to remain here in Malaysia after their work permit expires. Some would just travel to Malaysia to seek work and better pay along with their friends and relatives whom are already working here in Malaysia.
There are thousands of Indian restaurants all over Malaysia, and most of them operate 24 hours. These Indian restaurants have become the norm in Malaysia for a majority of the population as an eatery and social gathering. The need of service labour has also increased exponentially in the last few years. However, most of these restaurants are not qualified to engage legal foreign workers. This circumstance has caused most of the restaurant owners to bring in their own relatives and friends from India to work in Malaysia.
Since 2008, due to the high number of illegals in Malaysia, the Malaysian government has decided to cease issuing work permits for service workers. This has caused even more illegal Indian nationals in Malaysia to resort to work without any valid work permit.
The high amount of illegal were blame on high number of crimes, inflation as well as other economical issues. The Malaysian government announce in June 2011 that a 6P legalization will be launch to allow the 1.8 million illegals to be either legalize or allow to be deported back to their home country without any form of punishment. Employers whom have been employing illegal workers will also be granted amnesty and allow to legalize their worker, subjected to the rules and regulation of Ministry of Manpower.
To allow mass registration of illegal immigrants, 344 agencies all over Malaysia have been established. The program was to be launch on 11 July 2011 but was postpone to 18 July 2011 to allow more preparation for those appointed agencies. It was later postpone again to 1 August 2011, to allow some minor flaws to in the program to be rectified.
Under the 6P program, all illegals are allow to register including those without passport, workers whom had previously ran away from their employer, fake permit, fake passport, illegals whom are UN card holders, overstay and even for those who were born in Malaysia by illegal immigration. Those who register will have their fingerprint taken and acknowledge receipt will be given to them. Those registrant who will be approved to work in Malaysia, will be allow to obtain a valid work permit, insurance and other benefits. Those illegal immigrate who's registration has been rejected would be granted amnesty from any prosecution or any fine and be allow to return to their home country freely.[16]
|
|||||||||||