Malaysia deported 473 Indonesians in October, prompting call for migration reforms
Malaysia deported 473 Indonesians in October after they served sentences for immigration violations. Border-issues observer Zamzami A. Karim described the scale of the returns as an emergency and urged both governments to simplify legal migration procedures and strengthen protections for workers.
Recruitment costs and delays
Zamzami, a lecturer at Raja Haji Social and Political Sciences Institute (STISIPOL) in Tanjungpinang, linked the deportations to economic pressures in Indonesia, Malaysian demand for manual labor and an official recruitment process that he said was costly and difficult to navigate. Those barriers, he argued, push workers toward migration outside official procedures.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Sunday, he said the failure to resolve the problem reflected a lack of serious political commitment from both countries rather than a shortage of legal instruments. He characterized monthly repatriations on this scale as an emergency and called for a more transparent, humane bilateral framework with simpler bureaucracy, allowing workers to obtain legal protection without migrating illegally.
The time required to obtain work authorization was also highlighted by Indonesian Consul-General in Johor Bahru Sigit S. Widiyanto in February 2026. He said an official work visa typically takes two to three months to secure.
Sigit estimated that 9,000 to 10,000 suspected illegal migrant workers come from the Riau Islands alone each year, generating up to Rp 487 billion (US$29 million) in economic activity. He also said about 1.5 million Indonesians entered Malaysia through the 10 ports within his consulate's jurisdiction in 2025, compared with 1.2 million the year before.
Returns through Johor Bahru
The deportations take place under Malaysia's Program M. The Jakarta Post describes it as a two-year partnership between the Malaysian Immigration Department and Indonesian diplomatic missions in Peninsular Malaysia, with a goal of helping repatriate 7,200 Indonesian migrant workers without legal status.
Figures from the Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru, reported by Pantau.com, show that the consulate assisted 5,151 Indonesian citizens returning from Malaysia from January through October 2026. The total included 3,636 men, 1,472 women and 43 children.
Among the late-October returns were 129 deportees whose journeys the consulate arranged. A group of 85 traveled by sea from the Pekan Nenas Immigration Detention Depot to Batam, while 44 from the Kemayan depot sailed to Dumai.
The consulate separately helped bring home Johan Arifin, an Indonesian who had been hospitalized at Sultan Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru from October 24, 2026, following a workplace accident.
National repatriation figures
Indonesia's Ministry of Migrant Workers Protection (KP2MI) said the government helped 43,671 Indonesian migrant workers facing problems abroad return home during the two years of President Prabowo Subianto's administration. Malaysia and Cambodia accounted for the largest numbers of returnees.
During the same period, the remains of 1,234 migrant workers were also brought back to Indonesia, the ministry said.