The Migration Working Group (MWG) welcomes the government’s move to offer amnesty to ‘foreigners who entered the country illegally or overstayed after their work permits expired’. However, this is a superficial reprieve for many workers who may have become ‘illegal’ ie, undocumented through no fault of their own such as wrongful dismissal, deception by agents, and work permits not renewed by errant employers.

Although the amnesty will not punish the migrant workers returning home, many of them will not receive redress for their grievances such as for unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, compensation for injuries sustained through work, and abuse from irresponsible and dishonest employers.

Under the current policy, employers are able to cancel work permits of migrant workers too easily. When their workers bring court cases against them, they have refused to take part in negotiations and have delayed court processes. They do this with impunity because they know that migrant workers caught in such situations have great difficulty remaining in the country to pursue redress.

The amnesty is much needed, but does not address the deeper causes of why migrant workers become undocumented. One of the reasons Malaysia hosts a large population of irregular migrants is because of inaccurate forecasts of labour needs - there are more jobs that need migrant workers than the number of work permits approved for them. Accurate forecasts that meet the needs of employers will help to ensure that workers can work legally.

Secondly, migrant workers in distress, who also frequently lose their legal status, also need to be able to seek the assistance of Malaysian government officials to help resolve their labour disputes. If such a mechanism exists, they are less likely to remain undocumented in Malaysia.

We would also like to remind the government that for refugees and asylum seekers, sending them back to their country of origin is not an option. Our government must uphold the international customary law of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of people to places where they may face persecution or threats to their life or freedoms. In addition, refugees should be given the right to work and employers who employ refugees should be exempted from punishment for harbouring foreign workers.

Malaysia is in urgent need of comprehensive immigration reform. We call on the government to allow the Ministry of Human Resources to be the ministry in charge for migrant workers, instead of the Home Ministry. Migrant workers should be not be viewed as a national security matter as we continue to depend on foreign labour for economic growth.

We urge the government to ensure that all migration policies help to realise the International Labour Organisation’s Decent Work Principles – encompassing respect for basic human rights, access to employment, safe and healthy working conditions, and social security.

The writer is coordinator for the Migration Working Group, a network of NGOs working on migration issues and with migrant workers in Malaysia. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) is the secretariat for MWG.