Introduction

Immigration to Malaysia has mainly been explained in economic terms (Kanapathy 2001, 2004, 2006). The primarily adduced factors are the severe labour shortage generated by the country's continuous economic growth in the past three decades and the economic disparities between Malaysia and migrants’ countries of origin. To illustrate, between 1987 and 1993, 14 million new jobs were created in Malaysia at an average growth rate of 3.9 per cent as compared with an average domestic labour force growth rate of 3.1 per cent. Labour shortages were particularly felt in manufacturing and construction, with an average employment creation growth rate of 9.8 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively, for the same period (Moha Asri & Moshidi 1996: 12). Meanwhile, the average wage rate in Indonesia is three to ten times lower than in Malaysia (World Bank 1995: 58-62 in Wong & Anwar 2003: 170; Bagoes Mantra 1999: 62). In macro-economic terms, Malaysia presents a gross domestic product per capita ($US 10,882) which is twice as high as in the Philippines ($US 5,137), almost three times higher than in Indonesia and India ($US 3,843 and $US 3,452, respectively), four to five times higher than in Pakistan and Bangladesh ($US 2,370 and $US 2,053, respectively) and seven to ten times higher than in Nepal and Myanmar ($US 1,550 and $ US1,027, respectively) (UN Human Development Report 2007/2008: 229-232).

But market factors alone are not enough to explain the actual magnitude, composition and distribution of labour migration to Malaysia. Geographic proximity between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, between Kalimantan and Sarawak and between western Mindanao and Sabah provides many opportunities for border-crossing. From Indonesia or the Philippines, it is a mere two to four hours by boat ride. Other migrants arrive in Malaysia through the rain forests of Kalimantan or the green pastures of the Thai-Malaysian border (see Annex 1, Map 1). These borders are not only geographically contiguous, but have been historically porous. In pre-colonial times, the Malay Archipelago (which includes Indonesia and Malaysia) was a free, open migration area with seas, islands and shallow, narrow waterways that facilitated the movement of merchandise and people (Pillai 2005: 69). Migrants from Sumatra and Sulawesi began to settle in what is now Peninsular Malaysia from the mid-seventeenth century onwards.