According to estimates, there are around four to six million migrant workers in Malaysia, both documented and undocumented combined.
There are also about 300,000–400,000 refugees in the country. They have limited labour rights and protections and hence are regular targets of exploitation, often receiving poor wages and forced to live in horrible conditions.
What’s also interesting is that despite this, migrants and refugees have been quietly building grassroots networks of solidarity and care. This is what some of the folks from the North South Initiative recently wrote about, for the Asian Labour Review, in an article titled ‘Rewriting the politics of care, dignity, and labour justice’.
So, what does that look like? And what is the impact of this grassroots solidarity?
BFM speaks to Dr Asha Rathina Pandi, the head of research and lead analyst at North South Initiative.
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Presented and produced by: Dashran Yohan/BFM
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
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