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Mobility, Labour Migration and Border Controls in Asia pp 228–247Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

After Nunukan: The Regulation of Indonesian Migration to Malaysia

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Abstract

Labour migration from Indonesia is a complex phenomenon. Migrants enter Malaysia via a range of formal, semi-formal and informal channels, primarily through Sumatra and Kalimantan. Although Indonesian authorities make little effort to stop semi-formal and informal migration flows, the Malaysian government constantly adjusts its policies towards both documented and undocumented labour migrants according to the condition of its labour market. Periodically these adjustments have involved the mass arrest and deportation of undocumented workers, for example when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian workers were expelled from Eastern Malaysia to the tiny town of Nunukan in East Kalimantan in mid-2002. Both the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have failed to recognise the impact of the Malaysian government’s policies on transit zones such as Riau and East Kalimantan, and that more serious efforts at bilateral cooperation must be made in order to lessen the social costs of labour migration in these zones.

Keywords

  • Central Government
  • Migrant Worker
  • International Labour Organisation
  • Domestic Worker
  • Foreign Worker

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors
  1. Michele Ford
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of New England, USA

    Amarjit Kaur (Professor of Economic History) (Professor of Economic History)

  2. Asia Centre, University of New England, USA

    Ian Metcalfe (Adjunct Professor and Deputy Director) (Adjunct Professor and Deputy Director)

Copyright information

© 2006 Michele Ford

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Ford, M. (2006). After Nunukan: The Regulation of Indonesian Migration to Malaysia. In: Kaur, A., Metcalfe, I. (eds) Mobility, Labour Migration and Border Controls in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230503465_12

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