Most of the 1,009 respondents associated migrant workers with high crime rates and said they believed their presence had a negative effect on the economy, culture and heritage of the country.
ILO’s Asia-Pacific regional office carried out its 2019 survey on public attitudes towards migrants in Malaysia in collaboration with the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
The report concluded that many in Malaysia had limited knowledge about migrant workers.
Only 31% of the respondents believed migrants had a positive net effect on the country’s economy although 53% said Malaysia needed them for routine manual work.
Most of them disagreed that migrant workers and citizens should enjoy the same treatment at work, with 74% saying the working conditions should be different and 58% saying wages and benefits should not be similar.
More than half (59%) called for the tightening of regulations to make it more difficult for migrants to work in the country and 65% said they should not be allowed to join trade unions.
However, the report also noted that many of the respondents said they had or intended to “demonstrate supportive behaviour such as reporting an employer who is employing migrant child workers (55%), speaking about positive contributions of migrant workers to friends and colleagues (36%), helping a migrant worker integrate into a community (22%) and speaking out against offensive language directed at migrants (22%)”.
Besides that, many of the respondents were supportive of moves to end violence against female migrants. About 82% said there should be stronger enforcement of laws to protect female workers.
However, the study found that the support for female migrants were not reflected in national policies and laws.
“For example, the survey found that 62% of Malaysians say that migrant workers should have maternity leave. Yet, women migrant workers are subject to termination and repatriation if they become pregnant.”
In a section on domestic workers, the report said respondents demonstrated “a fair amount of ignorance” about their rights.
“In fact, Malaysia’s Employment Act (1955) classifies domestic workers as ‘servants’ and exempts them from many protection measures granted under the law for other workers. They are not entitled to paid leave, rest days, set work hours, sick leave, rest time or maternity protection.”
It said respondents with domestic workers in their employment provided varying work entitlements to them, the most common being paid leave, sick leave and a day off in the week. However, 13% said they did not provide any work entitlements at all.
The report called for reforms in immigration policies that would support social inclusion, among other things.
“Employers and trade unions can also promote the rights of migrant workers to encourage inclusion in the workplace,” it said.
It also recommended that the government, trade unions and relevant stakeholders, including domestic worker groups, conduct “evidence-based publicity campaigns” to raise awareness on the value of domestic work and the rights of domestic workers.