Sentul: It was past midnight, and the small terrace house in Sentul was silent, other than the whirr of a sewing machine. Shahim Mohamed Sharif, a 35-year-old mother of three and refugee from Myanmar, sat hunched at the worktable set in a corner of the living room. She wanted to finish embroidering the neckline of the kurta tunic (Indian traditional dress) that a client had ordered.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Shahim and her husband fled to Malaysia in 2013, where she continued her work as a tailor, earning as little as RM10 for a dress, while her husband did odd jobs. As a refugee, Shahim is barred from formal employment and its benefits, making her part of Malaysia's large informal economy. She provides at-home tailoring services, mainly to other migrants and refugees, as a means of survival.

What Shahim needs is a way to earn a second income outside her home. Conventional online platforms are not an option for her since they require sellers to have bank accounts, which she cannot open due to her refugee status. Over the years, activists and economists have advocated for the right of refugees to work, emphasizing that such a policy could address labor shortages and reduce government expenditures on healthcare, enforcement, and detention.

In the absence of formal work rights, several social enterprises, which are private businesses with social or environmental missions, are attempting to bridge the gap. They are providing refugee artisans with online and offline market access, offering a semblance of opportunity in a challenging environment.