Malaysia depends heavily on imported labour. As of 2010, migrant workers comprised around 16 per cent of the country's total labour force. The proportion of foreign workers in Malaysia's labour force has been growing steadily over recent decades. In 1990, foreign workers amounted to less than 250,000 while in 2007, their numbers soared to more than 2 million (Asian Development Bank Institute 2012). In July 2008, 35 per cent of employers registered with the Ministry of Manpower employed migrant workers (International Organization for Migration 2010). The country's reliance on imported labour has been said to be a result of the global restructuring of production and its absorption into the global economy (Kaur 2004). Moreover, the country's dependence on foreign labour has been tied to its industries being labour intensive owing to the lack of technological innovation (Azizah 2001).

Migrant workers have been a much needed labour source critical to Malaysia's relatively strong economic growth in the last two decades. In 2010, Malaysia's economy grew by 7.2 per cent because of a recovery in exports and stronger domestic demand, in particular investment, in spite of the 2008 global economic crisis. Although the economic growth rate was moderate at 5.1 per cent in 2011, nonetheless, the economy expanded (Asian Development Bank 2011). In particular, strong growth has been recorded in the manufacturing and plantation sectors. While these sectors have boosted the country's economy, they have also been dominated mostly by foreign workers because of their cheap labour (Azizah 2001).

The employment of migrant workers in the country, however, has been a complex terrain. While on the one hand, the government has acknowledged the demand for these workers by Malaysian employers, resulting in its having to carefully and strategically regulate the import of labour, on the other, it has had to stem the reliance on imported labour by discouraging employers to hire migrant workers. The strong presence of migrant workers in the country has also led to a backlash from the public who blame migrant workers for the worsening security in the country. But the hard facts on being particularly a low-skilled or unskilled worker in Malaysia have been bleak. Amidst these complex issues, the Malaysian state has had to confront the humanitarian concerns of these migrant workers employed on its shores.