Batam becomes transit point for illegal workers<\/p>\n
BATAM, Riau (JP): Two motorboats carrying 70 people set off
\nfrom a luxury house by a stream one recent, dark night. Their
\nengines had been switched off and the boats were quietly paddled
\nalong the stream towards the sea.<\/p>\n
Once they reached the open sea, the engines were turned on and
\nfrom there, it was smooth sailing to the coast of Peninsular
\nMalaysia. Powered by their 600 horsepower twin engines, the ride
\ntakes between 10 and 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
This is how Indonesian jobseekers are smuggled into Malaysia
\nalmost every night.<\/p>\n
There has been little serious attempt to stop the operation,
\nat least not from this side of the border. The Malaysian
\nauthorities, on the other hand, are conducting patrols along its
\ncoasts to stop the flow of Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin (Pati) or
\nMat Indon, the term they use to describe the illegal Indonesian
\nworkers, into their country.<\/p>\n
Batam, which has been designated by the Indonesian government
\nas an industrial zone, is attracting Indonesian workers from all
\ncorners of the archipelago. Apparently, not everyone comes here
\nwith the intention of working on the island. They have set their
\neyes on more rewarding goals, despite the risk to their own
\nsafety. They want to work in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Given its close proximity to Malaysia, Batam makes an ideal
\njumping-off point for Indonesian jobseekers to enter Malaysia,
\nlegally or otherwise. Many are also believed to have entered
\nMalaysia through Batam as tourists.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Sekupang seaport privately acknowledge that
\nthe authorities are fully aware of what is going on, but there is
\nlittle that they can do to stop the outflow of Indonesian
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
They said they cannot stop those who travel on tourist visas.<\/p>\n
\"How can we tell whether they're genuine tourists or not?\"
\nasked one official, adding that what these \"tourists\" do on the
\nMalaysian side of the border, whether they look for jobs, is no
\nlonger their concern.<\/p>\n
The port authorities could only detect those who were caught
\nand deported by Malaysian immigration -- they returned with their
\nheads shaven, they said.<\/p>\n
The smuggling of workers by boat is also difficult to contain,
\npartly because it is run by powerful syndicates, and partly
\nbecause the authorities here are not properly equipped to deal
\nwith the issue, they said.<\/p>\n
There is no way the 200-horsepower patrol boats used by the
\nauthorities can catch the twin engine 600-horsepower boats used
\nby the syndicates, they pointed out.<\/p>\n
\"We launched several operations to crack down on the
\nsyndicates, but they always managed to escape because they have
\nmore sophisticated boats,\" one official said.<\/p>\n
The sources said that coordination between government agencies
\nis also lacking.<\/p>\n
The Batam Manpower Office, for one, does not consider the
\noutflow of Indonesian jobseekers to be a serious matter.<\/p>\n
\"We have never been assigned to handle illegal workers,\" Dupri
\nA. Noor, head of the Batam Manpower Office, said. \"It is the task
\nof security officers.\" (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/batam-becomes-transit-point-for-illegal-workers-1447893297",
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