Recently, operations against undocumented migrant workers are being conducted repeatedly in Malaysia. Due to this, Malaysia's long-standing dependence on low-paid migrant workers and fear of outsiders (xenophobia) has created an exciting situation in the country.
More than 1,100 illegal immigrants were arrested following Thursday's (December 23) raid in Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin. Locals feel that the area is dominated by Bangladeshi businesses and workers. Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin is called 'mini Dhaka' by locals.
More than 1,000 officers from the Royal Malaysian Police were seen in the operation. These policemen usually work in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism in Malaysia. They have been deployed for examination of relevant documents of migrant workers.
Most businesses in Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin are owned by immigrants. There are restaurants, telecommunications stores and remittance offices. Most of which are owned by Bangladeshis. Besides, Bangladeshi workers also do the main construction work of various infrastructure projects in this area.
Christmas holidays are currently going on. Businesses run by Bangladeshis are still open.
Many are in fear after last Thursday's raid, said Bangladeshi businessman Habibur Rahman. He has been doing luggage business in this area for a long time.
The police received a lot of praise from Malaysian netizens for conducting the operation. Netizens criticized Bangladeshi migrant workers for being 'arrogant and trying to dominate like locals'.
Hundreds of illegal workers were arrested in a raid in Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin in May 2020 after the start of the corona pandemic. This time more workers have been arrested in the operation than that time.
Adrian Pereira works with migrant workers. He said he was appalled by the negative attitude among some Malaysians towards immigrants. He called such behavior a failure of society.
He said, it is totally unwanted, very bad, racist and xenophobic act. There is something wrong with our mindset and world view.
Meanwhile, the country's official data shows that 2.5 million legal migrant workers live in a country of 33.5 million citizens.
According to a report by the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are between 1.2 and 3.5 million illegal workers in the country. which makes Malaysia the largest migrant-receiving country in Southeast Asia.
In a post on X, the country's finance minister, Rafizi Ramli, said Malaysia's heavy reliance on migrant workers was a "structural failure". Along with that, he commented that the plan to achieve sustainable growth through the locals is averse.
He said that this has not only affected the employment opportunities of the locals but also the currency flow. This currency flow is seen when these workers send their salary home each month.
Rafizi also said it also affected the value of the Malaysian ringgit.
Regarding the recruitment of migrant workers, he further said that when we ask the recruiters, they say - the locals do not want to work in some industries because of the salary. Because of this, the traders became dependent on illegal workers.