In ‘The Two Faces of Migrant Labour’, Patrick Wall identifies that migrant labour programmes would be more effective if they were regulated by governmental bodies – such as immigration departments – that monitor the legal channels of migrant entry and formal work arrangements.

However, effective migrant programs require more than just government oversight; recognition of the nature of labour migration and the actors involved in representing workers’ rights are essential.

“Effective migrant programs require more than just government oversight; recognition of the nature of labour migration and the actors involved in representing workers’ rights are essential.”

Firstly, as Temporary Labour Migrants (TLMs) are not from the host country, there is little incentive for the host government to act on behalf of foreign citizens. As nationalistic campaigns are what capture domestic constituencies, it is of little interest to host governments to do much about the issue.

Secondly, TLMs often don’t have the same protection rights as ‘normal’ workers. For example, in Southeast Asia – the world’s largest migrant exporter – labour migration is mainly informal; migrants work and travel outside the legal boundaries of host countries or stay longer than their visas permit. Similarly, as most TLMs are women, their work is considered normal unpaid female domestic labour, like cleaning. Consequently, TLMs are not recognised as normal citizens and do not have the same rights as workers in the host country.

As governments – like the Malaysian government – and labour unions have little interest in TLM advocacy, labour NGOs are the key players in representing the needs of their transnational constituents and therefore their role needs to be assessed.

By investigating their key role, we can consider alternative forms of organising – a subject that lies outside traditional labour migrant studies.

Ben Davis recently graduated from an Arts degree (First Class Honours), majoring in Indonesian Studies.