Migration and SDGs in Malaysia: Implementing Policy Reform toward Migrant Rights Protection

This paper looks at how Malaysia has improved its efforts to protect the welfare of migrant workers in line with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since 2019, Malaysia has implemented three policy changes, including expanding the national social protection systems to migrant workers, amending the Employment Act, and implementing the employer-paid model for recruitment costs. These policy and regulatory reforms are mapped to three migration-related SDGs: SDG Target 1.3 (social protection systems and measures for all), SDG Target 8.8 (labor rights and promoting safe and secure working environments for all workers), and SDG Target 10.7 (orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration). Drawing upon document analysis, the paper refers to policy documents, legal publications, gazettes, United Nations’ documents, ministerial statements, and media releases. Taken together, these policy reforms have improved migrant rights protection and shifted Malaysia’s migration governance toward global convergence. However, the regulatory changes only cover documented migrants. Undocumented migrants are excluded from the protection regime due to their lack of legal status.