The United Nations defines people smuggling as enabling foreigners into a country where they do not have the right to remain. But our research shows how Indonesian migrants in Malaysia also use smugglers to return home.
These tend to be migrant workers who do not have proper documents or lack legal residence status. For them, there often are no cheap and fast options to return legally to Indonesia. This form of return migration, which we call “return smuggling”, is a longstanding issue between Indonesia and Malaysia.
