THE FAILURE OF INDONESIA-MALAYSIA COOPERATION IN RESOLVING INDONESIAN ILLEGAL MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE STATE OF SARAWAK, MALAYSIA 2013- 2016

Abstract

Indonesia is the biggest supply of labour force to Malaysia.s development. Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia can be both legal and illegal. Legal migrant workers are those who entered the state legally, while illegal migrant workers are those who work in or enter to the receiving state without a proper pass or procedures. The high demand for cheap labour in Sarawak catalysts the rise of illegal migrant entrance to the state. The Malaysia's economic development had been significantly contributed by the existence of foreign labour forces. However, their increase in number especially as illegal migrant worker negatively affects Malaysia and had brought concerns to the public, as well as the government. Additionally, for Indonesia, the presence of Indonesian illegal migrant workers in Sarawak results in the increase of Indonesian death cases due to the lack of work training imposed by the employers and the lack of access to legal protection of the workers. Accordingly, Malaysia imposes tough sanctions against illegal migrant workers, while legally recruited foreign workers are welcomed. Therefore, there is an urgency and need for both government of Indonesia and Malaysia in combating the illegal entry and the existence of Indonesia illegal migrant workers in Sarawak. This thesis is significant in providing detailed information and analysis on how did the cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia in getting ride in solving the problem of Indonesia Illegal Migrant Worker in Sarawak, Malaysia.