Review of labour migration policy in Malaysia

This report assesses the recent changes to labour migration policy in Malaysia and provides recommendations for further strengthening of the governance framework.

During the last few years, an increasing number of reports have documented serious labour rights abuses against migrant workers in Malaysia, including cases of forced labour and human trafficking. Responding to the concerns voiced by the international community and consumer groups, there have been a number of recent shifts in labour migration and anti-trafficking policies. In particular, several of the new measures announced in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020) may potentially improve the protections afforded to migrant workers in Malaysia, signalling progress towards a more coherent and rights-based governance framework. This policy review assesses the key recent changes made, and how they have been implemented in practice, in order to provide recommendations for further strengthening of labour migration governance in Malaysia.