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Malaysia amnesty for millions of migrant workers
Melbourne Age - June 8, 2011
Malaysia's new resolve to "do the right thing" by illegal immigrants also underpins its negotiations with Australia on the refugee swap deal and partly explains why the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is supportive of the concept.
"It's a big step in the right direction," said Aegile Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a group that assists undocumented arrivals in Malaysia, including refugees. "We have been asking for this for at least 12 months."
Malaysia's Home Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, revealed some details of the new program on Monday, saying the scheme could be a model for other countries. The deal is expected to be formally approved by cabinet later this week, at the same time the refugee swap deal with Australia gets the go-ahead.
The complete details have yet to be revealed, but The Age understands that illegal immigrants will be able to register with the authorities to stay and work legally for a year, which can be extended annually for five years in total.
According to Mr Hishammuddin, the purpose of the scheme was not to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants but to ensure that their skills were "channelled in the right directions" and that they were not "abused by human traffickers".
But the registration process is mooted to cost 800 ringgit, about $250, a steep sum for many illegal migrants who often earn a paltry income.
James Nayagam from Malaysia's Human Rights Commission, while saluting the amnesty as a "good move", urged the government to reconsider the charges.
According to some Malaysian press reports, the registration period for the amnesty could be as short as three weeks. "Three weeks is not enough," said Ms Fernandez. "Even three months is not enough for these people to organise their money."
Malaysia relies heavily on foreign labour for menial jobs, from Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma and the Indian subcontinent. Many of the illegal workers in Malaysia have overstayed their visas, some through no fault of their own, effectively kept captive by brokers or their employers, who previously had the right to hold the passports of their employees.
A deal guaranteeing Indonesians a day off each week, a minimum wage, the right to maintain their passports and access to communications has revived the flow of workers across the Straits of Malacca. The deal, announced last month, was seen as evidence of Malaysia's more humane approach to the issue.
As recently as 2009, Malaysia was ranked by the US State Department as among the 16 worst nations in the world for human trafficking and cruelty towards illegal immigrants.
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