The Feminization of Migration and Indonesia’s Protection Diplomacy for Female Migrant Workers in Malaysia Following the 2022 MoU
Abstract
Indonesian female migrant workers continue to experience structural vulnerabilities, particularly in domestic and informal sectors where legal protection remains limited. These conditions are closely associated with the feminization of migration, which places women in undervalued care and domestic work shaped by gender inequality and uneven labor governance. In response to persistent protection challenges, Indonesia and Malaysia signed the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Migrant Workers, introducing institutional mechanisms such as the One Channel System (OCS). This study examines Indonesia’s protection diplomacy toward female migrant workers in Malaysia in the post-MoU period (2022–2025). Adopting a qualitative research design informed by a post-positivist perspective, the study employs document and content analysis of bilateral policy documents, official reports and statistics from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI), and relevant academic literature on gendered migration and labor vulnerability. The findings show that while the 2022 MoU and OCS signal a formal commitment to improving protection, their implementation remains constrained by structural factors. Persistent reliance on non-procedural migration channels, weak legal recognition of domestic work in the host country, and limited enforcement capacity continue to expose female migrant workers to exploitation, unpaid wages, and restricted access to justice. At the same time, migration also enables women to exercise agency as primary breadwinners, illustrating a duality in which empowerment and vulnerability coexist. The study argues that protection diplomacy centered primarily on procedural regulation is insufficient to address the gendered and structural dimensions of migrant vulnerability. More effective protection requires policy frameworks that integrate gender-sensitive approaches, recognize domestic work as formal labor, and address the broader political–economic conditions underpinning feminized labor migration.
Keywords:
Feminization, Migration, Female, Migrant Workers, Protection DiplomacyReferences
Afiya, N., Sudirman, A., & Hakiki, F. (2024). One Channel System sebagai sistem keamanan siber untuk melindungi pekerja migran Indonesia di Malaysia. Indonesian Perspective, 9(1), 47–69. https://doi.org/10.14710/ip.v9i1.60882
Anggara, R., Mulyana, S., Gayatri, G., & Hafiar, H. (2024). Understanding the motivations of being Indonesian migrant workers. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2333968
Archer, M. S. (2003). Structure, agency and the internal conversation. Cambridge University Press.
ASEAN Secretariat. (2022). Women migrant workers in the laws and policies of ASEAN member states. ASEAN Secretariat.
BBC News. (2024, July 30). Pekerja migran Indonesia: Terdakwa kasus penyiksaan “keji” terhadap Meriance Kabu di Malaysia “penuhi unsur kejahatan perdagangan orang” – Apa maknanya bagi perlindungan PMI? https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/cd1x0y2w5eeo
Bhaskar, R. (1989). Reclaiming reality: A critical introduction to contemporary philosophy. Verso.
BP2MI. (2023). Data penempatan dan pelindungan pekerja migran Indonesia periode Desember 2023. Badan Pelindungan Pekerja Migran Indonesia. https://kp2mi.go.id/statistik-detail/data-penempatan-dan-pelindungan-pekerja-migran-indonesia-periode-desember-2023
BP2MI. (2024). Data penempatan dan pelindungan pekerja migran Indonesia periode Januari–Desember 2024. Badan Pelindungan Pekerja Migran Indonesia. https://bp2mi.go.id/statistik-detail/data-penempatan-dan-pelindungan-pekerja-migran-indonesia-periode-januari-desember-2024
Cameron, L. (2023). Gender equality and development: Indonesia in a global context. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 59(2), 179–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2023.2229476
Chan, C. (2017). Migrantes como víctimas y héroes nacionales: Cuestionando la migración como camino al desarrollo en Indonesia. Revista de Estudios Sociales, 59, 30–43. https://doi.org/10.7440/res59.2017.03
Chan, Y. W., & Piper, N. (2024). Home-bound precarity: Home violence on return Indonesian migrant domestic workers. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50(20), 5029–5044. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2346617
Curran, S. R., & Rivero-Fuentes, E. (2003). Engendering migrant networks: The case of Mexican migration. Demography, 40(2), 289–307. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2003.0011
Dwi Eriyanti, L., Hadi Makmur, M., & Ayu Intansari, D. (2022). Indonesia’s political position on the protection policy of migrant workers in ASEAN. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 26(1), 33–48. https://doi.org/10.22146/jsp.64224
Fauziah, D. S., Firdaus, A. S., & Kusuma, S. A. G. (2024). Mencegah human trafficking: Analisis implementasi kebijakan dan praktik perlindungan pekerja migran non-prosedural di Kalimantan Barat. Indonesia Foreign Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14562430
Grace Nevia, H., & Perkasa, A. W. A. P. (2024). Strategies for preventing exploitation of non-procedural Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) based on routine activity theory. Journal of Law, Politic and Humanities, 4(4), 625–634.
Hanim, A., Zainuri, A., & Sudaryanto, S. (2019). Rationality of gender equality of Indonesian women migrant worker. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 8(09).
Hochschild, A. R. (2000). Global care chains and emotional surplus value. In W. Hutton & A. Giddens (Eds.), On the edge: Living with global capitalism (pp. 130–146). Jonathan Cape.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. (1994). Gendered transitions: Mexican experiences of immigration. University of California Press.
International Labour Organization. (2023). Skilled to care, forced to work? Migrant domestic workers in Malaysia. International Labour Organization.
Kosat, E., Ina, V., Boro, A., Hurek, U. O., Dominggus Li, E., & Fauth, P. (2024). Gendered vulnerabilities and policy gaps: Analyzing alienation among Indonesian migrant women workers in Malaysia. Jurnal Public Policy, 10(4), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.35308/JPP.V10I4.10398
Laksono, P. (2017). Feminisasi kemiskinan (studi kualitatif pada perempuan miskin di Desa Kembang Belor Kecamatan Pacet Kabupaten Mojokerto). Habitus: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosiologi, & Antropologi, 1(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.20961/habitus.v1i1.18844
Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. Routledge.
Loganathan, T., Rui, D., & Pocock, N. S. (2020). Healthcare for migrant workers in destination countries: A comparative qualitative study of China and Malaysia. BMJ Open, 10(12), e039800. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039800
Loganathan, T., Zaini, A. Z., & Majid, H. A. (2025). Exploring the barriers and facilities migrants face in accessing COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 20(6), e0326045. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326045
Maksum, A. (2021). Indonesian post-migrant workers: A challenging problem for human security. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 4(1), 100223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100223
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of Malaysia on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Migrant Workers in Malaysia. (2022).
New Naratif. (2023, November 30). Migrant domestic workers in Malaysia: Forced labour and its catalysts. https://newnaratif.com/migrant-domestic-workers-in-malaysia-forced-labour-and-its-catalysts/
New Straits Times. (2023, November 24). Indonesian workers owed over RM6 mil in unpaid wages. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/11/979161/indonesian-workers-owed-over-rm6-mil-unpaid-wages
Novia, H., & Djelantik, S. (2024). Indonesia diplomacy in protecting the rights of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Malaysia (2017–2022). Insignia: Journal of International Relations, 11(1), 51. https://doi.org/10.20884/1.ins.2024.11.1.10087
Oishi, N. (2005). Women in motion: Globalization, state policies, and labor migration in Asia. Stanford University Press.
Orange, G., Seitz, V., & Kor, A. (2012). Information dissemination needs of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Malaysia. The Journal of Southeast Asian Research, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.5171/2012.492902
Parreñas, R. S. (2001). Mothering from a distance: Emotions, gender, and intergenerational relations in Filipino transnational families. Feminist Studies, 27(2), 361–390. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178765
Piper, N. (2004). Gender and migration policies in Southeast and East Asia: Legal protection and sociocultural empowerment of unskilled migrant women. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 25(2), 216–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0129-7619.2004.00183.x
Prianto, A. L., Amri, A. R., & Ajis, M. N. (2023). Governance and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Malaysia. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 7(2), 214–249. https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v7i2.44185
Priyansyah, A. (2023). The decision making analysis on One Channel System by Indonesian government 2014–2018 (Undergraduate thesis). Universitas Islam Indonesia. https://dspace.uii.ac.id/bitstream/handle/123456789/42618/19323031.pdf
Rother, S. (2017). Indonesian migrant domestic workers in transnational political spaces: Agency, gender roles and social class formation. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(6), 956–973. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1274567
Santosa, I. (2024). Empowering undocumented Indonesian migrant workers in Sarawak through social capital enhancement. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.00905
Sassen, S. (2000). Women’s burden: Counter-geographies of globalization and the feminization of survival. Journal of International Affairs, 53(2), 503–524.
Susanti, V., Kosandi, M., & Kartini, E. (2020). Criminological study on criminal activities human trafficking in the Nusa Tenggara Timur region (NTT), Indonesia. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 9, 182–191.
Tandos, R., Zhu, R., & Krever, R. (2022). The protection and empowerment of Indonesian female migrant domestic workers: Proposals from a multi-stage analysis. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, 28(2), 205–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2022.2051818
Trentin, M., Rubini, E., Bahattab, A., Loddo, M., Della Corte, F., Ragazzoni, L., & Valente, M. (2023). Vulnerability of migrant women during disasters: A scoping review of the literature. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1), 135. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12939-023-01951-1
Uroko, F. C., & Nwaoga, C. T. (2022). The experiences of and challenges faced by Nigerian women trafficked for forced labor: Implications for faith-based organizations and policy makers. Asian Women, 38(4), 81. https://doi.org/10.14431/aw.2022.12.38.4.81
Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Basil Blackwell.
Yeoh, B. S. A., Goh, C., & Wee, K. (2020). Social protection for migrant domestic workers in Singapore: International conventions, the law, and civil society action. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(6), 841–858. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220910208
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Hana Novia, Rifki Elindawati, Ica Cahayani, Rachel Kamilia Faradiba Nibal (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in SINTHOP: Media Kajian Agama, Sosial dan Budaya agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (See The Effect of Open Acces)
Downloads
How to Cite
Similar Articles
- Daan Dini Khairunida, Achmad Yan Muharis, Rizqi Fitriani, The Implementation of Contraceptive Legalization and its Moral Implications for Muslim Adolescents in Rural Indonesia , Sinthop: Media Kajian Pendidikan, Agama, Sosial dan Budaya: Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): July-December
- Fiona Nurul Hida Hunaifi, Muhammad Shiddiq Armia, Ida Friatna, Down Payment Refund Clauses in Non-Cash Home Purchases (Taqsit): A Murabaḥah-Based Assessment of Gharar at PT Hadrah Aceh Pratama , Sinthop: Media Kajian Pendidikan, Agama, Sosial dan Budaya: Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): July-December
- Gusniati Gusniati, Yusmar Yusuf, Mita Rosaliza, Mangroves in the North Rupat Landscape: Community Perceptions of Existence and Management , Sinthop: Media Kajian Pendidikan, Agama, Sosial dan Budaya: Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): July-December
- Widya Annisa, Iman Sumarlan, Audience Reception of Mental Health Representation in the Film Sleep Call: An Encoding–Decoding Analysis , Sinthop: Media Kajian Pendidikan, Agama, Sosial dan Budaya: Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026): January-June
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.