North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said this is because Malaysia is heavily dependent on migrant workers for its development.
He added that subsidies must be made available solely based on a person’s economic class, instead of one’s nationality.
“Government subsidies shouldn’t be based on passports, that is something the government has to consider,” Pereira said at a roundtable discussion on migrant workers in Malaysia.
On Sept 14, a TikTok video documented several locals confronting migrant workers for buying subsidised cooking oil at an unspecified supermarket.
In the video, the person recording the video alleged that the migrant workers had hoarded the cooking oil for their friends and caused a shortage in the supermarket.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Malaysia released a report today on the plight of undocumented migrants in the country.
Based on a survey of 40 undocumented migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic, the study found that the majority of them became undocumented after leaving their jobs due to exploitation, abuse or unethical recruitment practices.
“Among the 40 (undocumented) migrant workers, 24 reported exploitation, unethical recruitment, or other labour rights violations (by their agents or employers).
“In this category, low salary was the main cause of dissatisfaction, followed by passports being withheld by employers. Their low salary also meant that employers did not provide the salary and overtime payments as promised,” said sociologist Asha Rathina Pandi, who presented the report.
Asha, of Monash University, said some of these migrant workers were also deceived by false promises from agents and were even asked to sign contracts mere hours before flying to Malaysia.
The report suggested Putrajaya implement coordinated efforts to improve the governance, regulation and monitoring of the recruitment and employment of migrant workers.
It also called for less red tape to help migrant workers maintain their documented status, and for employers and authorities to ensure proper living and working conditions for them.
According to a 2019 World Bank report, Malaysia had an estimated 1.2 million to 3.5 million undocumented migrant workers.