Mohd Ikhwan Abdullah; Nurfarahin Harun; Nur Layali Mohd Ali Khan; Siti Aisyah Afifah Azman
Box Article: Initial Review Of Labour Migration In Malaysia
Introduction
- Many countries in the world have opened their international borders to allow immigrations, primarily to support the demand for labours in the countries. However, different countries have different priorities, with certain developed countries employing skilled migrant workers in areas where the countries’ local population lack the ability to perform the jobs, while other developing countries employed immigrant from third world countries to perform elementary and semi-skilled tasked due to shortage of local labour supply to fill the demand for these jobs.
- International Organization for Migration (IOM, 2011) defined migration as the movement of a person or a group of persons, either across an international border, or within a country. According to International Labour Organization (ILO, 2018a), international migrants are all foreign population and foreign‐born population who are usual residents of a given country. ILO (2010) revealed, among the many reasons for migration were prolonged exposures to poverty, wars and famine. In the meantime, World Bank Group (2019) stated the primary motivations for migration encompassed securing higher income through better employment in destination countries; economic and social inequality; demographic imbalances and climate change.
- In evaluating the impact of international migration to UK’s labour market, Green, Jones & Owen (2007) found that pull-factor of immigration into the country included job opportunities and higher wages. Meanwhile, a study by Darkwah & Verter (2014) found that people migrated out from Nigeria to other countries to seek for better employment opportunities and the economic benefits that ensued.
- At the global front, IOM (2019) reported that international migrants made up a share of 3.5 per cent of the global population in 2019, equivalent to 272 million persons, increased by 23 million from 249 million in 2015. Furthermore, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) through International Migration Report (2019) reported that Europe and Asia hosted the highest number of international migrants, which accounted for 82 million and 84 million respectively.