TAKING ON DIRTY, DANGEROUS AND DEMEANING WORK
According to official statistics, documented migrant workers make up about 15 per cent of the country’s workforce.
Combined with undocumented workers, their numbers could be around 5.5 million based on unofficial estimates.
Many refugees take on dirty, dangerous, and demeaning jobs typically shunned by locals to support their families, because they are not allowed to work legally in Malaysia.
Human rights groups said Malaysia has no formal framework for dealing with refugees, which means they are easily exploited by those who employ them.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights chairman Charles Santiago said: “For a very long time, there’s been a proposal put forward to the Ministry of Home Affairs and to the Government of Malaysia that the refugee community in Malaysia, which is sizeable, should be encouraged to work, should be trained, and provided the skills if necessary to get a job in Malaysia itself.”
He added that this would be “very helpful”, so Malaysia does not need to bring in labour from other countries such as Nepal or Bangladesh.
“But unfortunately, we are not tapping it and we treat them as if they are outcasts. In fact, the issue that they are paid RM900 for the job they do is against Malaysian law,” said Mr Santiago. In Malaysia, the minimum pay is fixed at RM1,500 per month.
He encouraged a mindset shift towards refugees to let them be integrated into the society.
“They’re not taking our jobs,” Mr Santiago said. “Clearly, Malaysians are not doing the dirty, difficult, dangerous jobs. Therefore, they are doing a service to us. We should not look at them as an enemy of society.”
ASEAN urgently needs to set up a humanitarian fund to support the Myanmar refugees scattered across Southeast Asia, he urged.
“Refugees have now moved into urban Bangkok, they have moved to Kuala Lumpur. These people have nowhere to go,” he added.
“ASEAN (has to take) ownership of the problem of refugees in the region.”
