Foreign spouses should be allowed to work

THIS Labour Day, Family Frontiers, the umbrella body of the Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG), would like to shed light on the predicaments of Malaysian binational families as a result of employment restrictions placed on non-citizen spouses of Malaysians.

Potential employers are reluctant to hire non-citizen spouses upon seeing the words “Prohibited from all forms of employment” stamped on their long-term social visit pass (LTSVP), also referred to as spouse visa. This is despite the Immigration Department stating that an endorsement to work can be obtained after securing an offer from an employer.

A survey conducted by Family Frontiers found that 75% of non-citizen spouses possess a bachelor’s degree or higher. Despite being as qualified as their Malaysian spouses, their immigration status prevents them from being employed, and they are unable to achieve financial autonomy, an essential component in family harmony.

Rozlan, a Malaysian, met his foreign spouse Samia while the two were studying for their master’s in finance at a Malaysian university. After they graduated, Rozlan secured a high-paying job while Samia remained unemployed due to the restrictions imposed on her as a foreigner. Her frustration with her jobless status led this highly qualified couple to seek employment in a third country.

The endorsement to work is also tied to the validity of the visa (which may require frequent renewals), and restricted to one state within the country.

Looking at their real-life situation, it is evident that lack of economic rights among spouses has a disproportionate impact on women, who are forced to depend totally on their spouses. This puts them at risk of harm and violence.

When their foreign spouses are forced to seek employment overseas, Malaysian women are left with only two options – move to join their husbands, which further contributes to brain drain, or lead separate lives, which creates unequal burden of care if they have children.

These economic inequalities affect the safety and security of women and children in binational families. The repercussions were exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, with foreign wives being placed at peak vulnerability, including to domestic violence.

This Labour Day, we would like to call on the government to:

> Allow non-citizen spouses equal right to work by removing the statement prohibiting employment on the long-term social visit pass;

> Extend the protection of labour laws and other social safeguards, such as EPF and Socso, and entitlement to voluntary separation schemes (VSS) and severance packages to non-citizen spouses to ensure greater economic stability for the Malaysian family as a whole; and

> Allow non-citizen spouses to open individual bank accounts so that they can enjoy financial autonomy.

There are over 200,000 Malaysian binational families living in this country, and it is time we treat them with the dignity they deserve.

ASSOCIATION OF FAMILY

SUPPORT AND WELFARE,

SELANGOR & KUALA LUMPUR