Constitutional principles in relation to the rights of migrant workers to social security in Malaysia: adopting the human rights approach
Enactment of the social security laws in Malaysia does not take into consideration the Malaysian Constitution’s constitutional principles. Likewise, the Constitution itself does not specify the provisioning of social security rights. Nevertheless, two provisions are particularly relevant for the...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Asian Economic and Social Society Publications
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/75326/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75326/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75326/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75326/1/RIGS.pdf |
| Summary: | Enactment of the social security laws in Malaysia does not take into consideration the
Malaysian Constitution’s constitutional principles. Likewise, the Constitution itself
does not specify the provisioning of social security rights. Nevertheless, two provisions
are particularly relevant for the recognition of fundamental rights to the migrant
workers in Malaysia: firstly, equality of treatment and secondly, prohibition of slavery
and forced labour. The concept of equality as enshrined in Article 8 of the Malaysian
Federal Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law. Furthermore,
Article 6 of the Constitution prohibits any form of slavery and forced labour. Hence,
any form of discrimination, slavery, and forced labour to migrant workers cannot be
tolerated. First, this paper aims to examine the basic principles of human rights
framework in relation to migrant workers. Next, this paper seeks to analyse these
constitutional principles in the light of Malaysian social security laws. Due to the lack
of constitutional provisioning on social security in Malaysian Constitution, this paper
also examines the experience from the South African Constitution because social
security in the country has been constitutionally protected. Lastly, the possibility of
implementing the same constitutional principles in Malaysian Constitution will be
observed by adopting the human rights approach. |
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