One million Indonesian migrants in Malaysia lack food under lockdown, says Nahdlatul Ulama

An volunteer group from the Malaysian chapter of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation has received numerous calls for help from migrant workers

Muslim Indonesian workers are facing a double whammy of financial ruin and a ban by President Joko Widodo on travel to return to mark Hari Raya Idul-Fitri next month

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Members of Nahdlatul Ulama and several NGOs distribute some 1,000 bags of rice around Klang Valley, Malaysia, on April 23, 2020. Photo: NU Malaysia branch

Published: 5:30pm, 23 Apr 2020Updated: 6:25pm, 24 Apr 2020

Under the shadow of Kuala Lumpur’s gleaming skyscrapers, about one million Indonesian migrant workers are suffering from food shortages during Malaysia’s partial lockdown, says a volunteer group from the Malaysian chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation.

One of them is Agung, 30, who has been surviving on eggs and instant noodles in his ramshackle makeshift accommodation on a construction site that has gone idle.

While he used to earn 2,000 ringgit (US$460) a month from back-breaking manual labour to build offices and homes, and repair factories in Malaysia’s capital, Agung has not been paid since most workplaces closed on March 18.

His dwindling food supplies are from an NGO and can last for another four to five days, he estimates.

“I don’t know what I will do after that,” said Agung, who is worried about his wife, one-year-old child and elderly parents living in a village outside Medan, North Sumatra. He is their sole breadwinner.

“I have not been able to send them any money for two months. For now they have food, but I don’t know how long that is going to last,” he said.

Migrant workers in Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, received bags of rice on April 23, 2020 from NU and several NGOs. Photo: NU Malaysia branch

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