Access to Employment Due to their regulation as “foreigners” under legislation, which does not provide for differentiated treatment of individuals with protection needs, stateless and refugee populations face significant challenges in accessing the formal labor market. As a result, many are often forced to take up work in the informal sector, where they benefit from fewer institutional protections and are more likely to experience exploitative working conditions, including wage theft.114 Legislative/Judicial Practice Extension of Workplace Rights and Protections to Refugees As demonstrated by the Ali Salih Khalaf case, courts can play a critical role in enforcing rights and entitlements for non-citizens provided by domestic law. However, while worker protections in national employment laws apply to all persons in Malaysia per the ruling, refugees are still not eligible for a Temporary Employment Pass, and thus are limited to engaging in informal and ad hoc employment opportunities.115 MALAYSIA As upheld in Ali Salih Khalaf v. Taj Mahal Hotel,116 the term “any person” given in the definition of the Industrial Relations Act of 1967 is broad enough to cover a UNHCR-registered refugee and is in accordance with Article 8 of the Malaysian Constitution, which guarantees equal protection to all “persons.” Thus, refugees in Malaysia are offered the same labor protections enshrined in the 1955 Employment and 1967 Industrial Acts as any other worker. Policy/Administrative Action The Right to Work for Individuals Targeted under Statelessness Prevention and Redress Initiatives The extension of the right to work to a significant proportion of the stateless population is a positive practice that demonstrates the feasibility of facilitating the right to work and access to the formal labor market for displaced populations. THAILAND On October 18, 2016, the Thai cabinet approved the proposal of the Committee Considering Working Aliens allowing individuals covered by the Thai state’s legal status and statelessness redress programs to legally engage in all lines of employment in the country. The right to work is extended to individuals falling within one of 22 defined groups, which include 19 ethnic minorities and three groups of formerly undocumented/unregistered stateless persons. These groups account for approximately 488,105 individuals.117 34 UND OING PRECARIT Y: ELE VATING P OSITIVE PR ACTICES FOR REFU GEE PROTECTION IN SO U TH AND SO U THE AST ASIA