This article needs to be updated.(October 2016) |
Immigration to Malaysia is the process by which people migrate to Malaysia to reside in the country. The majority of these individuals become Malaysian citizens. After 1957, domestic immigration law and policy went through major changes, most notably with the Immigration Act 1959/63. Malaysian immigration policies are still evolving.
In Malaysia there are four categories of immigrants: family class (closely related persons of Malaysian residents living in Malaysia), economic immigrants (skilled workers and business people), other (people accepted as immigrants for humanitarian or compassionate reasons) and refugees (people who are escaping persecution, torture or cruel and unusual punishment).
Currently, Malaysia is known as a country with a broad immigration policy which is reflected in Malaysia's ethnic diversity. According to the 2010 census by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Malaysia has more than 50 ethnic groups with at least 40% of Malaysians being a first- or second-generation immigrant; also around 30% of Malaysian residents in late 2010s are not born on Malaysian soil.[ citation needed ]
For most of human history people were free to move between regions. Malaysia's first generation of migrants consisted of indigenous peoples, the Orang Asli , believed either to have been among the first wave of human migration from Africa around 50,000 years ago, or to belong to the more recent events of Asian human evolution. [1] [2]
The Malay Peninsula enjoyed a position of strategic importance, connecting Indochina and the Indonesian archipelago, on the trade routes from China to India. [2] As a result, it grew from port towns that thrived on trade, and hosted the next groups of migrants as merchants became domiciled in the ports, some settling permanently and assimilating into the local communities. [3] By the 5th century, networks of these towns had evolved into organised political spheres of influence that contemporary historians describe as mandalas, as each was defined by its centre rather than its borders. At the periphery, control is less certain, borders may become permeable, In fact, mandalas sometimes overlapped, where areas could be subject to several powers, or none. [4]
Langkasuka was among the earliest kingdoms founded on the Malay Peninsula, believed to have been founded in the 2nd century. By the 8th century it had come under the control of the powerful Srivijaya empire, that was based on the island of Sumatra (now part of Indonesia). In the 15th century, the centre of power shifted from Sumatra to the Malay Peninsula as the Malacca Sultanate succeeded Srivijaya as the region's dominant influence. In addition to being linked by political rule, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula were also linked by intermarriage between Sumatran and Peninsular ruling elite, which led to migration of their followers.
Other significant early migrants are those now classified as Melayu Anak Dagang: non-Malays that migrated to the region and later assimilated into Malay culture (contrasted with Melayu Anak Jati: ethnic Malays that are native to the region): [5]
Researcher Anthony Reid draws another conclusion from this history - that Malaysia, like the US and Australia, is best viewed as an immigrant society: [6]
In Malaysia of course official ideology requires that 62% of the population be regarded as ‘sons of the soil’, defined in racial terms rather than place of birth. But there is also an older pre-nationalist tradition there of understanding Malaya as an immigrant society, and a tendency as in other immigrant societies for the relatively recent migrants in all communities to provide much of the innovative energy and leadership...
The next wave of migration, by Europeans, was particularly significant as it signaled the beginning of the colonial era. The Portuguese arrived first, setting up in Malacca in 1511, while the English East India Company began operation in 1600, and the Dutch East India Company in 1602. As these Europeans settled in this region, they also married locals and other non-Europeans. The inter-racial marriages account for a new set of people in Malaysia, called the Eurasians.[ citation needed ] Adding these new groups to the Arab, Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian traders who settled, resulted in the urban complexes of Malacca and Penang becoming extraordinarily plural places, with no dominant community up to the mid-19th Century. [6]
Although the colonial powers established ‘political’ boundaries to demarcate their respective territories, borders were kept open, mainly because of sparse population, and also to encourage immigration and the development of colonial territories. [7]
After the Dutch moved to Indonesia, and with the British acquisitions of Penang (1786), Singapore (1819), Malacca (1824), and British influence in Sarawak (1841) and Sabah (1882), the British became the dominant investor in the region that would become Malaysia.[ citation needed ]
British colonial immigration policy and goals can be divided into three phases. [7]
During the first phase, 1900–27, the country witnessed the expansion of the tin and rubber industries, along with construction of supporting infrastructure, and the entry of thousands of migrant workers to labor in these enterprises. The immigration rate (immigrants per 1,000 population) of Malaya (Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore) was the highest in the world throughout the period 1881-1939, more than ten times the rate of the United States. [6] For Chinese, Indian and Indonesian, entry was completely free and unrestricted. [7]
While Chinese, Indian, and Javanese migrants were often fleeing destitution caused by overpopulation, landlessness, or political turmoil, the indigenous people and Malays generally were not subject to these hardships. Thus, they were not receptive to working as wage labourers for the British colonizers. This meant the colonizers could not meet their aggressive goals of resource exploitation with existing stock of labour, leading them to invite/attract more migrant workers. [7] [8] Under the British colonial administration a divide and rule policy kept the immigrant workers apart from each other, and from the indigenous population, with the local Malays and the Indonesians confined to the rural areas as peasant farmers, the Indians mainly employed as wage labour in the plantations and in the infrastructure construction sectors, while the Chinese worked in the tin mines and in trade and commerce in the urban areas. This pattern of economic and geographical segregation continued to linger on in post-colonial Malaysia, as a legacy of colonial rule. [8]
The second phase, during 1928–46, began when the colonial government enacted its first piece of restrictive legislation: the Immigration Restriction Ordinance. This legislation enabled the government to establish a basic framework for border controls, and empowered it with the means to control the entry of labor deemed surplus to the requirements of the country. The Great Depression brought rising unemployment and depressed economic conditions, forcing the closure of some mines and rubber estates. This prompted the government to impose a monthly quota on adult Chinese male immigration from August 1930. In January 1933 the Immigration Restriction Ordinance was replaced by the Aliens Ordinance. The Aliens Ordinance provided the colonial state with a mechanism for registering aliens resident in Malaya and represented an important stage in the development of statutes and measures to monitor immigrants in Malaya. [7]
During the third phase, 1947–57, the Aliens Ordinance was replaced by the Immigration Ordinance of 1953. This Ordinance, coinciding with rising Malay nationalist sentiment, resulted in even more stringent border controls and laid down for the first time the specific composition of migrants allowed entry into Malaya, restricting by nationality and occupation, and thus placed greater emphasis on the skills of the migrants. New stipulations required potential immigrants to have job contracts of at least two years with Malayan firms and set a minimum earnings requirement. [7]
Finally, the Malayan Emergency (1948–60) resulted in the introduction of the Internal Security Act (ISA), and a compulsory system of identification cards for all residents aged twelve years and over. The identity cards categorized people on the basis of their nationality and residential/occupational status and, in effect, created the ‘outsider’. This an enduring legacy of colonial rule, adapted to the needs of the national state. [7]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2016) |
This list includes both pre and post independence immigrants.
Rank | Country of birth | Population | Portion of Malaysian population | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | China | 6,642,000 | 23.4% | see Malaysian Chinese |
2 | India | 2,012,600 | 7% | see Malaysian Indians |
3 | Indonesia | 2,000,000–2,500,000 | 7%–8% | see Indonesians in Malaysia |
4 | Arab World | 520,000 | 1.8% | see Arab Malaysians |
5 | Myanmar | 500,000 | 1.76% | see Burmese in Malaysia |
6 | Philippines | 325,089 | 1.14% | see Filipinos in Malaysia |
7 | Africa | 254,331 | 0.9% | see Africans in Malaysia |
8 | Bangladesh | 221,000 | 0.77% | see Bangladeshis in Malaysia |
9 | Pakistan | 120,216 | 0.42% | see Pakistanis in Malaysia |
10 | Vietnam | 70,000 | 0.24% | see Vietnamese in Malaysia |
11 | Thailand | 50,000–70,000 | 0.17%–0.24% | see Malaysian Siamese |
12 | Iran | 45,000 | 0.15% | see Iranians in Malaysia |
13 | Taiwan | 45,000 | 0.15% | see Malaysian Chinese |
14 | Portugal | 37,000 | 0.13% | Some are of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent. See Kristang people |
15 | Japan | 22,000 | 0.07% | see Japanese in Malaysia |
16 | South Korea | 12,690 | 0.044% | see Koreans in Malaysia |
17 | Cambodia | 11,381 | 0.01% | Mostly are Cham people |
18 | Syria | 10,000 | 0.01% |
Malaysia is a modern concept, created in the second half of the 20th century. However, contemporary Malaysia regards the entire history of Malaya and Borneo, spanning thousands of years back to prehistoric times, as its own history.
The demographics of Malaysia are represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in the country. Malaysia's population, according to the 2010 census, is 28,334,000 including non-citizens, which makes it the 42nd most populated country in the world. Of these, 5.72 million live in East Malaysia and 22.5 million live in Peninsular Malaysia. The population distribution is uneven, with some 79% of its citizens concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of 131,598 square kilometres (50,810.27 sq mi), constituting under 40% of the total area of Malaysia.
Malays are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, the southern part of Thailand, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
Srivijaya, also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to the 11th century AD. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western Maritime Southeast Asia. Due to its location, Srivijaya developed complex technology utilizing maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy.
South Sumatra is a province of Indonesia, located in the southeast of the island of Sumatra. The capital and largest city of the province is the city of Palembang. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north, Bengkulu to the west and Lampung to the south, as well a maritime border with the Bangka Belitung Islands to the east. It is the largest province in the island of Sumatra, and it is slightly smaller than Portugal. The Bangka Strait in the east separates South Sumatra and the island of Bangka, which is part of the Bangka Belitung Islands province. The province has an area of 91,592.43 km2 (35,364 sq mi) and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid-2022 was 8,657,008. The province is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. The province is inhabited by many different ethnic groups, with Palembangese being largest ethnic group. Most speak the Palembang language, which is mutually intelligible to both Indonesian and local Palembang Malay. Other ethnic groups include the Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau and Chinese. Most are concentrated in urban areas and are largely immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Chinese Malaysians, also commonly called locally as Malaysian Chinese, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group, after the Malay majority, and are 22.8% of the Malaysian population. Most of them are descendants of Southern Chinese immigrants who arrived in Malaysia between the early 19th and the mid-20th centuries. Malaysian Chinese form the second largest community of Overseas Chinese in the world, after Thai Chinese. Malaysian Chinese are traditionally dominant in the business sector of the Malaysian economy.
The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may also refer to any Malayic-speaking people living on coastal islands, including those of Mergui Archipelago islands of Myanmar and Thailand, commonly known as Moken.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia, as well as a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, the country's largest city, and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. Putrajaya is the administrative centre, which represents the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 33 million, the country is the world's 43rd-most populous country. Malaysia is tropical and is one of 17 megadiverse countries; it is home to numerous endemic species. Tanjung Piai in the Malaysian state of Johor is the southernmost point of continental Eurasia.
Illegal immigration to Malaysia is the cross-border movement of people to Malaysia under conditions where official authorisation is lacking, breached, expired, fraudulent, or irregular. The cross-border movement of workers has become well-established in Southeast Asia, with Malaysia a major labour-receiving country and Indonesia and the Philippines the region's main labour-sending states. Managing cross-border migration has become an issue of increasing concern in Malaysia and its international relations.
Greater Indonesia was an irredentist political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together, by uniting the territories of the Dutch East Indies with British Malaya and British Borneo. It was espoused by students and graduates of Sultan Idris Training College for Malay Teachers in the late 1920s, and individuals from Sumatra and Java, including Mohammad Natsir and Sukarno, on September 28, 1950. Indonesia Raya was adopted as the name of what later became the Indonesian national anthem in 1924.
Malaysian Malays are Malaysians of Malay ethnicity whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the Malay world. According to the 2023 population estimate, with a total population of 17.6 million, Malaysian Malays form 57.9% of Malaysia's demographics, the largest ethnic group in the country. They can be broadly classified into two main categories; Anak Jati and Anak Dagang.
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya, also known as West Malaysia or the "Malaysian Peninsula", is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby islands. Its area totals approximately 132,490 km2 (51,150 sq mi), which is nearly 40% of the total area of the country; the other 60% is in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo.
Malaysian Indians or Indian Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. They now form the third-largest group in Malaysia, after the Malays and the Chinese. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India to British Malaya from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Most Malaysian Indians are ethnic Tamils; smaller groups include the Malayalees, Telugus and Punjabis. Malaysian Indians form the fifth-largest community of Overseas Indians in the world. In Malaysia, they represent the third-largest group, constituting 7% of the Malaysian population, after the ethnic Malays and the Chinese. They are usually referred to simply as "Indians" in English, Orang India in Malay, "Yin du ren" in Chinese.
Indonesia and Malaysia established diplomatic relations in 1957. It is one of the most important bilateral relationships in Southeast Asia.
Negeri Sembilan Malay is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan, including Alor Gajah and parts of Jasin District in northern Malacca, and parts of Segamat District in the northernmost part of Johor. The language is spoken by the descendants of Minangkabau settlers from Sumatra, who have migrated to Negeri Sembilan since as early as the 14th century. It is often considered a variant or dialect of the Minangkabau language; lexical and phonological studies, however, indicate that it is more closely related to Standard Malay than it is to Minangkabau.
In 1025 CE, the Chola Emperor Rajendra I launched naval raids on Srivijaya in maritime Southeast Asia, Rajendra's overseas expedition against Srivijaya was a unique event in India's history and its otherwise peaceful relations with the states of Southeast Asia. Several places in present-day Indonesia and Malay Peninsula were invaded by Rajendra I of the Chola dynasty. The Chola invasion furthered the expansion of Tamil merchant associations such as the Manigramam, Ayyavole and Ainnurruvar into Southeast Asia. The Cholan invasion led to the fall of the Sailendra Dynasty of Srivijaya and the Chola invasion also coincides with return voyage of the great Bengali Buddhist scholar Atiśa from Sumatra to India and Tibet in 1025 CE.
Indonesian citizens in Malaysia are Indonesian citizens who live and work in Malaysia. Indonesians in Malaysia comprised a large numbers of labour and domestic workers. It is estimated that 83 percent of migrant workers in Malaysia are Indonesian. There are also local Malay which is also partially Indonesian by descent, and they are considered as Bumiputera by racial term.
Malays played a significant role in pre-Hispanic Philippine history. Malay involvement in Philippine history goes back to the Classical Era with the establishment of Rajahnates as well as the Islamic era, in which various sultanates and Islamic states were formed in Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and around Manila.
The Indonesian Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indonesian ancestry. Today, there are many Malaysian Malays who have lineage from the Indonesian archipelago and have played an important role in the history and contributed to the development of Malaysia, they have been assimilated with other Malay communities and are grouped as part of the foreign Malays or anak dagang in terms of race. The Malaysian census does not categorize ethnic groups from the Indonesian archipelago as a separate ethnic group, but rather as Malay or Bumiputera.
The Javanese diaspora is the demographic group of descendants of ethnic Javanese who emigrated from the Indonesian island of Java to other parts of the world. The Javanese diaspora includes a significant population in Suriname, with over 13% of the country's population being of Javanese ancestry. Other major enclaves are found in Australia, French Guiana, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Singapore, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.