[Editor's Note]
was attracted by the opportunity to make a living in the distance and set off. From now on, it is difficult to return to my hometown and stay at work. In the tide of globalization and the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the general fate of countless foreign workers.
The epidemic has been raging for three years. A stranger who is trapped in the epidemic may be trapped in the crowded Singaporean migrant workers' dormitories, the nickel mine park on Sulawesi, Indonesia, the meat processing plant trapped in southwestern Germany, and the Malaysia detention camp. This is the " new crown dilemma" and the current situation of survival that global workers cannot solve.
In June this year, the Indonesian labor organization "Immigration Rights Alliance" (KBMB) released the "Report from Hell: The Situation of Immigration Detention Camps in Sabah, Malaysia" (hereinafter referred to as "Report from Hell"), showing the abuse and even deaths encountered by Indonesian workers in Malaysia in bloody faces to the world, causing public opinion shocks between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Whether it is an undocumented Indonesian laborer who died in a Malaysian detention camp or a foreign worker dormitory who tossed and turned due to the epidemic in Singapore, what is placed before these foreigners and their governments is not a pure moral issue, but a complex question of social management. If we just inhumanely regard this group as a cheap tool, it is destined to cause more tragedies.
On October 10, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of the Parliament. Malaysia will usher in a national election in the next 60 days. The economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, the trends of celebrity politicians, and how fragmented political arena will move towards stability... These are all election issues that have attracted the attention of Malaysian society.
Although the treatment and management of foreign workers involves the millions of foreign workers in Malaysia, it is difficult to attract the attention of politicians and voters. In June this year, the "Report from Hell" released by the Indonesian non-governmental organization alliance "Migration Rights Alliance" (KBMB) disclosed that in Sabah, Malaysia, a large number of undocumented Indonesian workers have been detained in temporary immigrant detention camps with poor conditions and strict management methods in the past 18 months; among them, 5 detention camps in Sabah, , Sabah, a total of 149 people were suspected of dying due to abnormal causes. From January to March 2022 alone, the death toll reached 18.
In response to the death data of "149 people" in the Sabah detention camp pointed out in the Report from Hell, the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia denied it, admitting that 18 Indonesian citizens died in the Sabah immigrant detention camp within the past 18 months. However, Alfon emphasized that the number of deaths of 149 was provided by the official Ma in response to paper documents before the publication of the above report.
The letter from the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta to the KBMB Women's Work Branch. The first article reads, "According to statistics, the death toll of Indonesian citizens detainees in 2021 reached 101, and 48 in June 2022 (January to June)." Photo provided by the interviewee
"(There are two hells in this world) One is the place after rebirth, and the other is in this life, in the temporary detention camp in Sabah." A female worker among the nearly 100 repatriated people interviewed by the "Report from Hell" was so touched.
September 2018, Malaysia, Sabah, Kota Kinabalu , Farmers Market. Visual China Data map
Malaysian Interior Minister Hamzah Zainudin said in response to the Report from Hell in June that anyone could die anywhere. "If I could foresee that someone was about to die without detaining them, then I would be too awesome."
Indonesian Migrant Care representative to Malaysia, Alex Ong, believes that the KBMB report will not shake the Malaysian government's immigration management policy. "The Malaysian government is losing its ability to manage migrant populations. It has actively denied the existence of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable outsiders... The vacancies in Malaysia's labor market caused by the new crown epidemic have attracted 800,000 new foreign workers. In the upcoming 15th national election, the bad side of democratic practice will be re-staged." Wang Qingrong said that for electoral politics, foreign labor issues are either ignored or politicized.
On November 14, 2019, local time, on Johor, Malaysia, palm trees grow in Tanah Merah estate operated by Genting Plantation Co., Ltd. Visual China Data picture
"helllike" situation
40 detainee Nathan suffers from Down syndrome , but officials in Sabah's detention camp have been asking Nathan to "fend himself". It is said that officials underestimated Nathan's condition many times, saying "You can still stick with it, right?" In this way, the only drugs provided for him were primmin , which was used for anti-allergic. In March this year, Nathan died at the Tawau Detention Center in Sabah, and his death certificate did not state the cause of death on .
Another detained person, Aris bin Siang, had not been able to obtain effective treatment before his death. He was allegedly unconscious several times during the six months he was detained and eventually died in the Tawau detention camp in September last year. Another Indonesian citizen who was successfully repatriated said a detainee named Suardi Bin Samsudin was likely to be beaten and abused by public officials in the detention camp.
April 2012, a street intersection in Sabah, Malaysia. Visual China Data Picture
These stories were made public due to the release of "The Report from Hell". In June, KBMB members such as Abu Mufakhir hosted the press conference on "Report from Hell". According to the report, problems in the detention camp in Sabah include: long-term neglect of the health problems of detainees and failure to provide medical services in a timely manner, which makes the detainees develop in a more serious and fatal direction; long-term failure to transfer the detainees to medical centers before their condition worsens; long-term failure to provide necessary human resources, sanitation facilities and medicines in the detention camp; no protection of the right to health of detainees as much as possible, and failure to fulfill their responsibilities to protect the health of detainees and ensure their access to medical services and facilities.
Malaysia, Tawau city scenery. Visual China Data Picture
KBMB member Alfian revealed in an interview that the research of this report took three years, and the information source was mainly obtained through interviews with nearly 100 laborers who were deported back to Indonesia. Alfen admitted that the investigation process was not smooth: in 2020, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Malaysia adopted a stricter border control policy, which made it difficult for KBMB to go to East Malaysia to conduct investigations; as Malaysian authorities have increased their efforts to search, control and detention of foreign workers due to the outbreak of the epidemic, the situation of Indonesian workers has also become more severe.
In 2021, the repatriated people suffered from skin disease. Alfon Photo provided by
If there is no research report released by KBMB, these abnormal deaths in the detention camps in Sabah may not be known. "For a long time, most Indonesian social activists have paid more attention to the Indonesian labor situation in the Middle East, East Asia, and , the Malay Peninsula (i.e., Western Malaysia)." said Alfon.
was exposed through KBMB, and many media such as " South China Morning Post " and "Diplomatic" followed up and reported on the treatment problems of the detention camps in Sabah: these detention camps have the phenomenon of "serious abuse, malicious neglect and violent treatment"; in addition to the harsh sanitation environment and insufficient medical security, the daily living conditions of the detention camps are also very bad.
KBMB surveyed the Sabah detention camp and found that 260 detainees, including children, were forced to squeeze into the same cell with no windows and the size of a badminton court, and such a room was only equipped with three toilets.
In September last year, five Chinese workers were found when they tried to return home from Malaysia and were detained by Johor in the Pekanna Immigration Bureau detention camp. The detained workers later said that the Johor detained camps were mixed, including Rohingya refugees in Myanmar, undocumented workers from countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and drug dealers from Malaysian neighbors such as Singapore. The living environment of the detained camps was crowded, unclean and lacked medical protection, which formed a bribe-manager-detainer. The detained people need to pay prices far higher than the market price to get daily necessities, food and opportunities to talk to the outside world.
Malaysian survey media "Malaysia Today" followed up on the investigation and verification of the living environment of the detention camp in June this year and found that the food of the detainees is basically "salt and rice", and food such as fish will even make people itchy after eating it. Malaysia Today said that the expense allocation provided by Malaysian officials for undocumented immigrants and refugees in detention camps is likely not really used on the detainees.
In October 2021, the deported person arrived at the Port of Nunugan, Indonesia. Alfon Photo provided by
Alfon pointed out that in Malaysian detention camps, although money can buy supplies or call opportunities, it cannot solve all the procedures for being deported home. The procedures for repatriation from Malaysia to Indonesia are quite lengthy, and detained Indonesian citizens need to "prove their identity" and obtain cooperation from Indonesia. "From before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the procedure for repatriation from Sabah to Indonesia might last as long as 6 months, and in extreme cases it even takes several years... What's more, Johor is located in the more developed Western Malaysia, and its immigration bureau's detention camp conditions are considered superior."
Why are foreign workers enslaved? Dinda Nuur Annisaa Yura, a member of the Indonesian Women's Human Rights Solidaritas Perempuan, a group affiliated to the Malaysian Interior Minister Hamzah said that this is similar to the attitude of the colonial era, where detainees are not only punished, but also “ruled.” "From here we see a gesture, a gesture that does not regard these detainees as human beings."
"Around the world, Malaysia belongs to the few countries that have a tendency to criminalize immigration and have detention camps." said Pia Oberoi, senior adviser to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Asia Pacific.
On February 23, 2021, local time, Lumut, Malaysia, a vehicle believed to be carrying Myanmar immigrants to be repatriated, heading to the naval base. People's Vision Data Picture
Behind Hamzah's amazing remarks and the seemingly inconsistent statements by the Malaysian government are the problem of foreign workers that has plagued Malaysian society for many years. Malaysia has a population of about 30 million, and there are more than 2 million registered foreign workers in the country, mainly from Indonesia and Bangladesh. As for the unregistered foreign workers, the number may be even greater. There has even been a saying in the Malaysian business community that “every time there is one legal foreign worker, there will be two unlicensed foreign workers”.
To investigate the situation of Indonesian labor in East Malaysia plantations, Alfen went to the plantation in person. According to his observation, most plantations are distributed in "wilderness ridges" or villages of local indigenous people. Indonesian workers working in plantations often need a 30-minute drive to drive a motorcycle if they want to go out to buy daily necessities. This means that most of the time these workers can only live with their workers within a specific range. They often work for several years before returning to their home country once, and they have to always worry about the search, fall into detention camps and long repatriation processes by the Malaysian authorities.
On February 22, 2021, local time, Lumut, Malaysia, Myanmar, warship , docked at the shore, waiting to pick up the deported immigrants. People's Vision Data Picture
Benny Rhamdani, head of the "Immigration Workers Protection Agency" (BP2MI) officially established by Indonesia for domestic workers exporting overseas, also noticed the Sabah research report released by KBMB. In an interview with Indonesian media, he said that although Malaysia denied the statement "149 deaths" provided by the KBMB report with the "18 deaths", the focus is not on the specific death numbers, but whether the deaths of these detainees are related to the unfair treatment they have been treated.
Local time on April 28, 2021, Surabaya, Indonesia, health officials screened migrant workers returning from Malaysia and Singapore and then quarantined them. People's Vision Data Picture
Due to lack of legal identity, many Indonesian foreign workers are often at the mercy of others when facing Malaysian law enforcement departments.The Ma government often takes raids against undocumented workers in order to take care of local sentiments and maintain social order. However, because the country's economy is so dependent on foreign workers, these periodic hunts will never arrest or repatriate all undocumented workers, otherwise the country's economy will suffer a major impact.
In the past three years, affected by the new crown epidemic and other factors, there are serious foreign labor shortages in industries such as the Horse manufacturing, construction and palm planting. Reuters reported that a survey report in June this year showed that the gap in foreign labor force in Malaysia may reach as many as 1.2 million. On July 19, Prime Minister Ismail urged relevant departments and industry associations to work together to quickly resolve the shortage of foreign labor, otherwise it will put the entire country's economy into a more serious recession.
Malay Migration in the world
Malaysia's economy has long dependence on foreign workers, and this is not unrelated to its economic structure. Malaysia is "one country is divided into two places". West Malaysia creates 80% of Malaysia's national fiscal revenue with 40% of the land area. Although the area of East Malaysia accounts for 60% of the country's total area, its population accounts for only about 20% of the country, and the two places are separated by the South China Sea. East Malaysia is relatively poor, but it preserves rich natural resources and borders Indonesia. Every day, a large number of Indonesian workers travel from their motherland to East Malaysia to work. According to Alfon, between 60 and 70 percent of Indonesian workers who go to East Malaysia go to palm plantations.
January 26, 2016 news, in Got Tinggi, Malaysia, pictures released by the Royal Malaysian Police show the bodies of illegal Indonesian immigrants on the beach. Visual China Data Picture
Indonesia and Malaysia are the world's number one and second largest producers of palm oil , respectively. The latter mainly relies on millions of foreign workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal to fill factories and plantation jobs that locals are reluctant to participate in. A research report released by the research team of Galaxy-CIMB in August this year showed that recruiting workers from Indonesia is crucial to increasing the production of fresh palm fruit buns and crude palm oil and reducing the production costs of Malaysian plantations.
In fact, Malaysia and Indonesia belong to the broader "Malay world": this area consists of more than 20,000 islands, and has been a place where trade, populations and culture flow and blend; even in the middle of the last century, emerging nation-states were independent, and this vast sea and land world belonged to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines and other countries, and the shuttle and exchanges between the Malay Islands did not stop. Almost every day, Indonesian workers mainly from poor rural areas set off from Sulawesi , West Timor , and Indonesian territory on Kalimantan Island to work for East Malaysia.
"Multiple Indonesian ethnic groups are in Malaysia, especially in East Malaysia with family and relatives, which has formed a chain migration network. Relying on family relations, Indonesians are constantly traveling to East Malaysia to work and live." Alfen said.
Frequent population exchanges have led to many transnational families in East Malaysia. Such family composition may be that Indonesian male workers marry a local woman in East Malaysia, or that East Malaysia men marry an Indonesian woman; working couples from Indonesia may also find residence in Horses and settle down.
March 11, 2021, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Visual China Data Picture
Even so, it is difficult for Indonesian citizens to "live and work in peace and contentment" in Horse. According to Alfon, due to complex nationality, marriage and legal provisions, even if these Indonesians start a family in Ma, family members from Indonesia may still be deported, including pregnant women. A worker interviewed by KBMB said that his mother was an Indonesian worker working in Malaysia during the reign of former Prime Minister Mahathir (1981-2003); his mother was carrying him on her way back to Indonesia. Later, he came to East Horse again to make a living.
For the Malaysian economic system, maintaining a low-wage market ecosystem requires a sufficient number of unauthorized workers, rather than localizing foreign workers, or even giving them Ma citizenship in any sense.In the 1970s, Malaysia vigorously supported the Malay middle class, started large-scale urbanization, and a large labor gap appeared in the export industry and plantation industry, which has since started a wave of introducing foreign workers. However, the irregularity in the Malaysian foreign workers' intermediary system is "notorious", and the problem of unlicensed foreign workers is becoming increasingly serious.
"Malaysia should have developed its economy like other countries by attracting talents, but it has been trapped in labor-intensive economy ." Wang Qingrong analyzed that Malaysia needs a large number of unskilled labor in industries such as plantations, low value-added manufacturing, hotels and tourism. "Malaysia uses a short-term work permit system to control low-skilled immigration. These workers are victims of xenophobic policies that discriminate, exploit and abuse in the employment system."
For the Malaysian economy, it has become an "inertia" to maintain enough unlicensed foreign workers: when foreign workers do not hold legal documents, owners can save costs and avoid workers in their legal status such as medical insurance, salary increases, and reject overwork.
What is even more embarrassing is that the issue of foreign immigration in East Malaysia has become a tool for politicians to fight. "During the 1992 general election, the then Prime Minister was Mahathir, and Malaysian society was concerned about the issue of 'fake ID cards' in Sabah; during the 2008 general election, the issue of 'non-referendum' was put on the table again, and the failed democratic system became something controlled by the ruling authorities." Wang Qingrong said.
Mali freelance writer Tang Nanfa, who focuses on the issue of refugees and immigrant workers, once pointed out that since the 1970s, the civil war in the southern Philippines has caused a large number of refugees to influx into East Malaysia (Editor's note: There are many Moroes and Muslims in the southern Philippines, and most of the Philippines' population is Christian); Sabah and the federal government have a condonistic and even disregard for the influx of foreign residents from Indonesia and the Philippines, especially from the Mahathir era from the 1980s to the early 2000s. In the eyes of Malaysian politicians, more Muslim people with similar cultures to the Malay Peninsula with a large Muslim population can enter Sabah, which can help them check and balance the Christian-oriented Kadashan (East Malaysian Aboriginals).
The improper manipulation and management of politicians has caused serious " stateless persons" problem in Sabah. People often accused the Malaysian authorities, with Umno (Note: Malaysia has long dominated the country's political situation since its founding) as the core of using these "non-citizens" to create votes. In 2020, data from the Massachusetts Bureau showed that nearly 1.1 million of Sabah's total population of 3.9 million were stateless, accounting for about 28%, far exceeding other regions. Some residents have become stateless people due to factors such as living inland, poverty of their parents or lack of information. In addition, many stateless people are born to locals and foreigners.
To this day, transnational migration due to work and family still occurs on the Indian-Malaysian border on the Indian-Malaysian border on the Borneo (Note: Malaysia calls the entire island covering the territory of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, while Indonesia calls it Kalimantan ). Undocumented workers and stateless persons are still sensitive issues that plague Sabah. The local rebound in Sabah prompted the federal government to change its stance on the grounds of "defending national sovereignty." At the beginning of this century, Mahathir launched a large-scale repatriation operation in East Malaysia. According to the British " Guardian " report in 2002, at that time, Malaysia repatriated hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to the Philippines and Indonesia. This massive expulsion has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis, with many people, including children, dying on the road to repatriation, causing angry condemnation from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Wang Qingrong criticized that from the central to local governments, various government departments in Malaysia lack cooperation in managing immigration. Wan Shawaluddin Wan Hassan, a senior researcher at the School of Humanities, Arts and Heritage, University of Sabah, Malaysia, also pointed out to Malaysia Today that the issue of immigrants is sensitive and easy to touch the nerves of Sabah people, but "they (undocumented immigrants and stateless refugees) are also human beings, and (Malaysia) need to find solutions."
trapped between India and Malaysia
In June this year, KBMB launched a protest in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, with more than 20 participants. Although the scale of the protest was not large, the report written by KBMB successfully attracted the attention of Indonesian society and the official: Indonesian media published an article saying that "Indian society should be grateful to those who go abroad to work"; the Indonesian central government and the embassy and consulate in Malaysia were positive about the report and invited KBMB to participate in the discussion on response methods and policy formulation.
"We hope the Malay government will attach importance to the abuse of the Immigration Bureau, and we protest for all those who have been treated unfairly, including non-Indones." Alfon said when recalling the protest scene.
On November 17, 2013, local time, in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia, a mountain covered with heavy fog. Visual China Data Picture
In Benny Hamdani's view, the abuse faced by Indonesian workers seized and repatriated by Malaysia does exist. The Indonesian government must take action to raise awareness or pressure the Malaysian side to seek a joint solution. In April this year, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Employment and Protection of Family Maids in Indonesia (PDI), which seems to be an attempt by both countries to seek a common solution.
However, in July this year, Indonesia said that Malaysia bypassed the only channel stipulated in the memorandum to recruit Indonesian domestic maids, indicating that Malaysia does not pay attention to the memorandum of understanding; Indonesia also made a decision to ban Indonesian workers, including palm planting workers, from exporting them to Malaysia. It was not until August 1 that the relationship between the two countries was restored after consultations between the two governments and that Indonesia's ban on labor exports against Malaysia was lifted.
North 17, 2013 Local time, in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia, villagers were walking on a muddy road. Visual China Data Picture
"Voice of Indonesia" report pointed out that the reason why Malaysia is so arrogant is that for Indonesian workers, Malaysia is still the most popular working destination. Although Indonesian President Jokovic boasts about the contributions made by Indonesian workers to horses and the protections that Indonesian workers can obtain from both India and Malaysia, the actual legal protections that Indonesian workers receive in horses are very weak.
Bagong Suyanto, a professor at the School of Social and Political Science, Ellangga University in Indonesia, pointed out that although it is dangerous to work abroad, it is still the best choice for many rural Indonesian residents: job opportunities in their own country are becoming increasingly scarce, and the prospect of current jobs is slim, and going abroad has become an attractive proposal.
Under economic pressure, Indonesian workers may even risk working abroad without obtaining a formal work permit. They do not want the government to interfere in job searches and lack the funds needed to process all legal documents, so they often choose to swallow their anger when encountering injustice in foreign countries. "These workers can work, live or even die in plantations, but they just cannot get involved in the urban space of Malaysia," said Alfon.
Benni Hamdani admitted that the work of protecting Indonesian workers overseas is difficult in practice: Although the Indonesian parliament provided the agency with a budget and President Jokovic also expressed high profile support for rights protection, the budget has always been limited. The agency is more responsible for helping trapped Indonesian workers than fundamentally preventing such tragedies. In theory, the "Immigration Workers Protection Agency" targets 780,000 Indonesian workers registered in Malaya, but the actual number of labor may exceed 2 million.
According to Alfon, after the Malaysian side completed the pre-repayment procedures, Indonesia began the acceptance procedures. The agency responsible for this is the Indonesian "Immigration Workers Protection Agency", which is responsible for providing a place for repatriated people entering Indonesia. "However, due to the lack of funds, the (Indonesian) migrant workers protection agencies have to ask Malaysia to slow down the intensity of repatriation, which has led to the agencies that should have protected their own workers to extend the waiting time for the repatriated people."
Benny Hamdani told the Indonesian current affairs magazine "Time" that exporting undocumented workers from Indonesia to abroad must be a systematic and organized activity, and cross-border crimes cannot be completed by some specific gangs."(Related activities) Recruiting workers from entering the village, coordinating many intermediaries, abducting every villager, tempting high-paying jobs, paying relevant expenses, and quickly dispatching workers... All the costs paid by criminal gangs eventually became the debts borne by the workers. In the end, the workers became hostages in the debt trap and gave their monthly salary to repay the debt. This is a serious crime."
Local time on January 23, 2017, rescue workers carried out rescue work. Visual China Data Picture
On December 15, 2021, more than 20 Indonesian workers died of shipwreck on the coast of Johor State in Ma Johor. The more than 20 victims, like their millions of Indonesian compatriots, tried to enter Malaysia by smuggling to get more paid jobs. Benny Hamdani sent an investigation team for this matter and found that there was someone involved in the Indonesian military and police. There is a deep-rooted undocumented labor transport chain between Indonesia and Malaysia, which is difficult to remove. According to the Indonesian Times News Network (Tempo) on September 27, on September 26, the Indonesian Riau police announced that they had successfully rescued seven Indonesian workers who were about to be illegally sent to Malaysia as unlicensed workers. An intermediary responsible for introducing Indonesian workers to Malaysia was arrested for suspected human trafficking. Riau police also said a Malaysian businessman provided funds to labor agencies to recruit illegal workers in Indonesia.
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Ma launched several raids under the pretext of pursuing unlicensed workers. For example, in August 2021, the Malaysian Immigration Bureau launched a search in Sabah, with 155 workers and their families arrested, including 67 women and 39 children.
"Search can happen anywhere: on the road between the plantation and surrounding cities, in the surrounding medium and large cities." Alfon said, "If the plantation owner does not give enough 'coffee money' (note: 'bribery' is synonymous with the people of Malaysia), the Immigration Bureau may also launch a raid on the plantation directly."
In the view of many Malaysian analysts, the country's search for foreign workers is often political considerations: during the election, politicians need to put forward an attitude of paying attention to immigration issues and protecting the border, echoing the arguments of nationalists; state governments and other local authorities should prove to the Malaysian federal government and people that they are acting, maintaining and exercising symbolic powers as governments; arrests and seizures are control and deterrents for foreign workers.
Tang Nanfa once commented that foreign workers in Malaysia live in the shadow of abuse of power by law enforcement units all day long. Even if they have evidence, they will face the risk of being wronged. According to Malaysian media Star, Sabri Umar, an Indonesian logging worker in Tawau, Sabah, was wrongly sentenced to be imprisoned and whipped in April this year. Sabri was acquitted by the Ma Court in July this year and was released in court.
Even if Indonesian workers require registration and obtain legal work status, the Malaysian companies hiring them may refuse. In addition, the epidemic has also made many Indonesian workers holding legal work documents undocumented. During the epidemic, the Ma government office, which manages immigration, was temporarily closed. The work permits of these workers could not be renewed. They encountered the government's search in the name of epidemic prevention, and the situation was extremely embarrassing.
"The living environment of plantations and detention camps is very poor, and the situation will only be worse during the epidemic control period." Alfon said, "Even if you hold a passport and visa, all procedures have been completed, and there is visa convenience between ASEAN and , ASEAN and countries, it is difficult for Indonesian workers to escape the danger of arrest, detention and repatriation."
In fact, Malaysian government officials have always had serious concerns about the welfare of foreign workers, and few people will investigate or be responsible for the frequent deaths of Indonesian workers. Malaysia's detention camp ecology can be considered "rare in the world". United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Senior Advisor to the Asia-Pacific region said that governments of ordinary countries will make entering some people without legal visas a "administrative crime" and settle the fine and deportation. "If you are strictly convicted, these people will be punished criminally." This is exactly how Malaysia treats unlicensed entry.
Oberoi added that in Thailand, which also convicts undocumented entrants, there is still an alternative to detention program to protect women and children to ensure that vulnerable groups will not be arrested. Unlike Thailand, the situation of women and children in Malaysia’s detention camps is worrying. "The latest data we have shown that there are about 800 children in all detention camps in Malaysia," Oberoi said.
OHCHR is concerned that if Malaysia wants to detain all undocumented personnel, including 2 million to 4 million undocumented immigrants and 150,000 refugees, its existing detention camp facilities will be difficult to cope with such a large population. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, the already harsh and crowded environment, coupled with the malnutrition situation, and the existence of vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and the elderly will make the spread of the new coronavirus very quickly, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of infections in these detention camps."
In 2020, the Malaysian government reached an agreement with the United Nations: children should never be detained. "Malaysia agreed to launch a pilot project to remove children from those who can be detained." Oberoi said that although vulnerable groups such as the elderly are still within the scope of detention, she believes this is still a positive signal. "Of course, every country has the right to manage its own immigration policy, which is national sovereignty. However, if the country's management method raises a lot of human rights concerns, it will not be beneficial to the country's government and even less beneficial to foreign workers."
Oberoi stressed that the Malaysian government should allow independent human rights supervisors to enter the detention camp. "Since 2019, UN overseers have no longer been allowed to enter Malaysian detention camps."
"Even if the Malaysian government believes that these inbound people should not stay in their country, they should not take the current approach. Give local police the right to decide whether to stay in detention camps for ten years. This will lead to the breeding of corruption and is not a good thing for society in general," Oberoi said.
Oberoi called on the two countries that send and receive labor to sign an agreement and include the content of human rights safeguards. "One of them should be: workers will not be detained indefinitely and abused due to migration. All parties can resolve this problem based on the law and joint agreement between the dispatched countries and the receiving countries. The dispatched countries can agree to accept workers returning to the country, and they should all obtain human rights protection."
(Intern Lu Wen also contributed to this article)
