Repression among legal foreign workers in Selangor / Syarmin Nor Era Omar

Foreign workers in Malaysia have always been involved in issues such as social problems, eliminating the local job market, crimes, diseases, and others. However, there is one inevitable issue experienced by the foreign workers while working inMalaysia which is repression. Repression among foreign workers is real and still happening until today. Even worse, repression happens to the legal foreign workers inMalaysia. Thus, this study aimed to analyze whether the foreign workers are being repressed in terms of safety, rights, and wage repression in Malaysia. This study adopted a qualitative approach by using semi structured in-depth interview. Ten participants enrolled in this study comprised of legal foreign workers in Selangor across multiple job sectors (manufacturing, plantation, agriculture, construction, services, and domestic maids). The findings revealed that the foreign workers were mainly repressed in terms of rights followed by safety and wages. Every foreign worker deserves to be treated equally similar to the local workers while working in Malaysia. Besides, incidences of repression towards foreign workers were mainly acted out by their own respective employers, local authorities (police and immigration officers) and generally, the public. The authorities play a crucial role in securing the foreign workers rights and to prevent repression.