A report on economic migrants on one of the news channels made me wonder about people, migration and motivation. For years, people have moved from their home countries to near and faraway lands to work, earn, gain a better standard of living, and travel. People have also moved because of conflicts, insecurity and persecution. In recent times, the numbers of people moving/leaving appear to be rising. Particularly from certain regions. And, the topic of migration has garnered more global attention and media space.

Based on the United Nations’ ‘International Migration 2020 Highlights,’ there were about 281 million people living outside their country of origin in 2020. This was up from 173 million in 2000 and 221 million in 2010[1]. Numbers in the millions always sound a lot to me.

Different to how I remember it growing up in Alor Star in the 1960’s and 70’s. Only two foreign students, an American and a Filipina, attended my school. One had parents, who worked in the Peace Corps. The other, I don’t know, but she was chauffeured to school. Fast forward to now in Kuala Lumpur, not literally now as the borders are closed due to Covid-19, we have peoples, languages and accents from all over the world. My husband and I used to guess accents and predict difficult to identify nationalities whilst walking around in the KLCC shopping mall. Personally, I welcome the free movement of people. Diversity, necessary skill-sets and expertise to help and complement socio-economic growth is a good thing. But only when people adhere to employment and migration laws of the destination country.

There are many inspiring stories about immigrants all over the world. People who built successful businesses and industries, and excelled in various professions. People who contributed to society. People who are just happy working and living in a different country. Conversely, there are also tragic narratives about immigrants who’ve had to struggle, and continue to struggle to make ends meet. Many who’ve suffered abuse. Other migrants who didn’t make it or worse, died in the process.

The report I watched focused on a group of young men from South and Central Asia who wanted to enter the European Union. With borders shut, they were sleeping rough in freezing temperatures in abandoned buildings, makeshift tents and old freight wagons. An English-speaking interviewee described his experience as miserable and bad. He said it would be difficult to go home because his family had saved up to enable him to pursue this journey of hope into Europe. This man seemed to be caught between a rock and a hard place. The reality was bleak as the path ahead was perilous, uncertain and more likely not welcoming. Return home via repatriation and disappoint the family or stay the course? Like him, many were stuck. In transit. Migrants with dreams. With or without qualifications and skills. And, no legal documents.

In Malaysia, there were about 3.43 million immigrants as of 2019 [2]. Meanwhile, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of documented foreign workers in Malaysia increased from 1.7 million to 2.2 million between 2010 and 2017. Most of whom came from Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. At the end of 2018 there were an estimated 2-4 million undocumented migrant workers[3]. As of 2019, about 117,000 expatriates also live and work in the country[4].

There are some negative views about the prevalence of foreign workers in Malaysia. This is despite the fact that they are here chiefly because they are needed in specific sectors of the economy such as construction, manufacturing, plantation, hospitality (restaurants) and security services.  Still, it was surprising to learn a 2018 survey on perceived percentage of immigrants in Malaysia overestimated the proportion of immigrants in the country. Respondents thought that around 36 out of every 100 people in Malaysia were immigrants, when the actual share of immigrant population was around nine percent in Malaysia[5]. Hmm…

As for international migrants, two thirds of them live in just 20 countries. In 2020, the top five international migrant destinations were the United States (51 million), Germany (16 million), Saudi Arabia (13 million), the Russian Federation (12 million) and the United Kingdom (9 million). India was top with the largest migration in 2020. 18 million persons from India were living outside of their country of birth. Followed by Mexico and the Russian Federation (11 million each), China (10 million) and Syria (8 million)[6].

The welcome mat to migrants is less readily rolled out these days. There is a perception, real or not, that too many people, legitimate or otherwise, are targeting specific countries, and looking for that road paved with gold by jumping on the migration wagon. That said, international migrants currently represent about 3.6% of the world’s population[7]. That’s 281 million out of 7.8 billion people globally. That’s a lot of millions. But, is it? Hmm…