Malaysia should fight racism

It was really only a question of time before the influx into Malaysia of workers from its poorer neighbors began to have side effects. Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians and Bangladeshis have flooded into Malaysia -- legally and illegally -- to fill the shortage of labor in one of Asia's fastest-growing economies. Some economists say cheap foreign labor has helped establish Malaysia's 'economic miracle.'

Now comes the backlash. Malaysians are complaining that crime has gone up, that migrants are dirty and raucous, they don't stand in line for buses, and the latest -- they have started marrying local women.

Now, the government is preparing to arrest and deport illegal immigrants who failed to take advantage of an amnesty that expired at the end of 1996. Those who surrendered before then could obtain permits to stay and work in Malaysia. About 3,000 immigration officials, police and army personnel will go door-to- door nationwide in the crackdown.

On the issue of marrying local women, it has become serious enough for the ethnic Indian political party, the Malaysian Indian Congress, to begin distributing pamphlets in rural communities around the country they warn Malaysian Indian girls about the dangers of marrying foreign guest workers, particularly Bangladeshis.

The pamphlets state that many Malaysian girls are being cheated by Bangladeshis when these workers have to return home after their contracts are completed. The reason is that the workers can't take the girls with them because they also have wives and children in Bangladesh.

All this talk about cultural conflict between Bangladeshi workers and Malaysians is sheer nonsense, fueled by racial prejudice. Bangladeshis, as Moslems, have many things in common with their Malay Moslem brothers and sisters. As people of the Indian sub-continent, they share common values with Malaysians of Indian origin.

Malaysia, like many other countries in the region, needs foreign workers to sustain its high growth rates. The harsh reality, however, is that the blood and sweat of these workers are seldom, if ever, valued or even acknowledged. The migrant workers are not given proper housing and health facilities, yet they are exploited by recruitment agencies and employers.

Thus, when they become sick or resort to petty crime to make ends meet, it is all of the foreign workers who are blamed for Malaysia's social ills.

If ASEAN countries want foreign laborers, they must be willing to set the standards for better working conditions and the rights of these workers. As human beings, they deserve respect rather than the treatment commonly meted out to animals.

-- The Nation, Bangkok