Influx of illegal workers

(Source: The Rise of Crime in Malaysia; An Academic and Statistical Analysis, of the Kuala Lumpur Royal Malaysia Police College, No. 4, 2005)

To understand the relationship between the influx of illegal workers and
crime, it would be best to start off with the trends in migrant worker
movements in this country. Unlike in many advanced countries, where international labour migration is concerned with those who migrate for work and permanent settlement, the focus on international labour migration in Malaysia primarily centers on contract labour migrants. These are low-skilled workers who are imported for a short duration on a contract basis to alleviate labour shortages in specific sectors.

One can identify three broad trends in migration worker movements
in Malaysia. The first wave began in the 1970’s. During the initial phase,
migrant workers were mostly employed in the rural plantation sector in small
numbers. The number of migrant workers grew in the late 1970’s and early
1980’s to meet widening labour shortages in agricultural and construction
sectors.

The second wave coincided with sustained high growth since the
late 1980’s. Widespread labour and skill shortages, and escalating wages
drew large numbers of both documented and undocumented workers.
The third phase was a period of stabilization of migrant worker
inflow following slower economic growth and the introduction of severe
penalties for illegal entry and employment. Since 1998, the number of
migrant workers has hovered between 800,000 and 1.2 million, depending
on economic performance. The current estimate of illegal migrant workers
in the Peninsula is about 300 to 400 thousand, or one illegal worker for
every three documented workers.

It is this influx of foreign workers that is perceived by many to
impinge upon public safety and security, as some migrant workers,
particularly the illegal migrants are engaged in criminal activities. The
number of crimes committed by migrants has increased three-fold from
1,333 in 1992 to 3,113 in 2002 (refer to Fig. 12 below). Indonesians, by
virtue of their larger presence committed the most number of crimes (about
62 % of the total crimes committed by foreigners). However, the proportion
of crimes committed by foreigners merely hovers around 2 % of the total
index crimes in Malaysia. On a per capita basis, foreigners on average
commit about 3.8 crimes per 1000 foreign population, whereas Malaysians
committed 5.3 per 1000 population. This goes to show that on a per 1000
basis Malaysians commit more crime than foreigners.