Life’s hell to Malaysians, heaven to foreigners

The illegal immigrant situation may be getting out of control

COMMENT

By Angel Fernz

A growing void between the government and the people and a feeling that social, political and economic issues will remain unresolved for the foreseeable future have taken their toll on the Malaysian spirit. Every one moves, works, exists, in a state of lethargy.

But while the Malaysian spirit withers, another group of people are sustained with energy, purpose and contentment. They are happy to be living in this country. To some of them, this is as near to Paradise as they can get in this life. They are the immigrant people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, the Phillipines, Vietnam, Nepal, China and Indonesia.

Ariff Khan came into the country as a legal immigrant and has been here for seven years. Last year, he brought in his 15-year-old son from Pakistan illegally. The boy helps him in his street-cleaning job and gets a small wage from Ariff’s employer.

He is happy his son can make a new life here. Next year, if both save enough money, he plans to bring in his wife and daughter. Eventually, perhaps, Ariff’s parents and his wife’s parents could be brought over and the inner family circle would be complete.

Fong Tat of Myanmar already has his wife and two brothers with him. All of them are illegals. A relative who came in legally arranged for them to come in. He knew the ropes, whom to see, how much to pay, how to get the passports stamped and how to obtain fake documents.

But why are the immigrant workers here? The fact is that there are jobs in the manufacturing and plantation sectors that not enough Malaysians could fill if they wanted to. But by and large, Malaysians tend to shun laborious work.

Earlier in the year Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told Malaysian Digest that there were 2.8 to 2.9 million legal migrant workers here. And according to police statistics cited at a National Council of Professors’ conference last year, there are more than three million illegal foreign workers in Malaysia.

Foreign workers make up around 50% of the construction workforce in the country and about 60% of the manufacturing workforce. Hence, they make up about 20% of the labour force.

Malaysian employers cite low wages and lower overall labour costs for their preference for foreign workers. Employers now have to abide by the minimum wage ruling, but unskilled foreign workers do not get EPF or Socso. Neither do they pay taxes, except GST.

Migrant workers are also increasingly seen in the service industries. They are employed at petrol stations, restaurants, coffee shops and pubs. Many restaurant owners employ illegal immigrants willing to work for less than RM500 a month as long as they get free accommodation and a meal.

We cannot deny the need for migrant workers. They do play a big role in ensuring the country’s development. However, if their numbers are not controlled, the nation will face serious socio-economic problems that may negate the contributions they make.

Consider these facts: Putting the legal and illegal migrant workers together, their numbers have overtaken the ethnic Indian population in the country, which the Department of Statistics has put at 1.98 million. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong told a Chinese newspaper that the population of immigrants could outnumber ethnic Chinese in a matter of years. How long will it be before our largest racial group is also overwhelmed?

Wages kept low

Amran Awang, Ahmad Ismail and Zulkafli Mansor, in an essay published last year, pointed out several socio-economic issues that Malaysians should be concerned with.

They cited loss of revenue when migrants send money to relatives at home. (In 2008, Malaysia lost RM17 billion in migrant revenue.)

The migrant situation keeps local wages low. That’s why Malaysian workers complain of wages not going up, or rising only at minimal rates. And since labour is cheap, the country will delay adopting mechanisation and automation.

A large immigrant population also imposes a toll on social amenities and services. Infectious diseases are on the rise, according to H Krishna Kumar, President of the Malaysian Medical Association. Once almost totally eradicated here, tuberculosis has made a comeback. Out of 1.27 million foreign workers screened last year, nearly 3.5% failed the second screening test for TB and other diseases.

Krishna said illegals who might have entered the country carrying diseases posed a major concern.

“During the amnesty period, some 1.3 million illegals registered voluntarily with the government. Of those registered, only 400,000 underwent voluntary medical examination and 6% were found to have infectious diseases,” he said in a press interview.

“What happened to the others who had not gone through health screening. They could be walking around freely. If they are victims of infectious diseases, they are spreading them to Malaysians.”

National security is another problem as some illegal immigrants are involved in criminal activities – in the narcotics and vice trades and, more recently, in the recruitment of Malaysians for the Isis terrorist group.

Other issues revolve around immigrant welfare, human rights, registration of marriages and the education of the immigrants’ children. There are several agencies looking into their welfare. However, these generally act independently. A holistic approach is needed to deal with the issues surrounding immigrants, with the government and civic groups acting in concert to keep the numbers manageable.

A point to note is that immigration reduces the income of local workers who compete with them, while it enriches employers and the agents who transport them and provide related services.