The Malaysian International Studies Association (MyISA) was established under the auspices of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) in 2023, with the overarching aim of advancing scholarly and policy discourse in the field of International Relations (IR). We do so by connecting scholars, practitioners, policy experts and IR students through research and publication, policy dialogue and academic seminars. The year 2024 witnesses our very first endeavour to engage the broader community of IR scholars and post-graduate students by convening the first international seminar known as the First International Conference of Malaysian International Studies Association (MISAC 1). We are pleased to announce that this year’s conference, which will be convened fully in person, will be organized with the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) and the Research Centre for History, Politics and International Affairs (SPHEA), both from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

This year’s theme has been collectively determined by the Committee Members of MyISA as “MegaTrends in the Indo-Pacific Region: Issues and Challenges for Malaysia and Southeast Asia”. This theme broadly covers a range of topical issues such as Theorizing IR in Southeast Asia; Geopolitics and Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific; Malaysia, ASEAN and Regionalism; Foreign Policy and Diplomacy; Security and Development; Migration and Governance; Non-Traditional Threats and Organized Crimes; Peace, Conflict and Humanitarian; as well as IR4.0 and States.

At the outset, this Conference aims to bring together prominent and esteemed Malaysian IR scholars to exchange views and connect with other emerging IR scholars, early-career researchers, postgraduate students and policy-makers. Specially curated keynote and plenary sessions feature these esteemed scholars, and it will be followed by the launching of MyISA. The launching session showcases the invaluable contribution of Malaysian prominent scholars to the knowledge corpus and the production of new generations of IR scholars, enabling the IR traditions of conducting both fundamental and critical research and engaging the global community of IR scholars and practitioners.

This Conference, with the support of a not-for-profit organization: Porticus, also features sponsored panels, focusing on migration and governance, and will be followed by the convening of a half-day Migration Expert Workshop on 15 February 2024. These sponsored panels and the migration workshop aim to critically evaluate both Malaysian policy and scholarly discourse, governing international migration into/from Malaysia from the broader international relations and political economy lens (also considering other disciplines such as broader social sciences, public policy, public health, law, and economics).

Background

Today’s estimates indicate as few as three to five million migrants and refugees, originating from more than 50 nationalities, live and work temporarily across Malaysia, including in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak). Their profiles and factors underpinning their mobility into Malaysia are multifaceted and complex: some migrate in search of better jobs, while others seek asylum without official recognition by the state. Malaysia’s policy governing international mobility has evolved especially in the past four decades in view of accommodating the growing business demand for the migrant workforce on the one hand and responding to international pressure and civil society’s demands to allow refugees and asylum seekers to seek refuge in the country, on the other hand.

Scholars, however, claim that Malaysia’s policy and approach to responding to this complex and controversial international mobility are weak, vague, and short-term in nature, eventually resulting in policy inconsistency but heavily influenced by security measures to address millions of blue-colour migrant workers and politically vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees. Little is known, nevertheless, what has contributed to this alleged policy’s ambiguity, otherwise policy’s failure, but it has clear negative ramifications for everyday life and the state of integration among millions of migrants and refugees in the country.

This calls for a deliberate and critical appraisal as to “why” Malaysia responded in such a way, what can be done to improve Malaysia’s response to the ever-growing and complex migratory movement of international migrants and refugees into the country, and how Malaysian scholars can critically yet constructively contribute to this on-going effort?

Our Broad Vision

Given the academic background of Malaysia’s International Studies Association (MyISA) as the main convener of this conference and workshop, in collaboration with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and University of Malaya (UM), and supported by Porticus (a not-for-profit organization), we are determined to critically evaluate Malaysia’s policy governing international migration from the broader international relations and political economy lens (also considering other disciplines such as broader social sciences, public policy, public health, law, and economics).

About the Workshop

The workshop will be held back-to-back with the First MyISA conference at Fakulti Pengajian Islam (FPI), UKM on 15 February 2024. It will bring together speakers, conveners and participants from the MyISA conference on 14 February 2024 to participate in this workshop: a maximum of about 30 participants, overall.

Objective

The objective of this workshop is two-fold. It first exposes Malaysian academia to the contemporary migration practices and policy issues governing international mobility. Secondly, the workshop attempts to gain insights and suggestions to strengthen research collaboration and contribute to building progressive policy responses concerning international migration in Malaysia.

Methodology

The workshop will be divided into two parts:

• The first part will feature expert practitioners to share views pertaining to contemporary migration pathways, transnational movement building, and migration facilities.
• The second part of the workshop is further divided into two: an interactive discussion to identify research capacity gaps, research interest and potential collaboration among participants; followed by an open dialogue to discuss the idea of forming a Malaysian academic network on migration: an idea first mooted by the President of MyISA. This part will be convened in an open-dialogue format, allowing an honest, participatory and inclusive exchange of views and opinions. It strives to ensure that the dialogue process is convened respectfully (of others), constructive and with the spirit of finding common ground to act.

Who We Aim to Reach Out To?

Leveraging MyISA’s established networks in academic institutions and policy-making institutions, this conference and workshop attempts to reach out to the academic community (e.g., professors, senior lecturers, researchers, and post-graduate students) who are involved directly or indirectly in researching and contributing to policy change governing international migration in Malaysia.

Acknowledgment

The convening of this workshop has been made possible by the generous support from Porticus. Special thanks and appreciation to the Committee Members of MyISA for their strong commitment and contribution throughout the convening of this conference and workshop.