Deported workers continue to suffer<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
Around 1,200 Indonesian workers who have been languishing in
\nMalaysian jails for up to seven months were left stranded in
\nBelawan regency, North Sumatra, on Saturday after being deported
\nfrom Malaysia for visa violations.<\/p>\n
They were temporarily housed at Transito Dormitory in Belawan
\nand demanded the local government send them home soon.<\/p>\n
\"It's our fate that after being jailed in another country, we
\nare still abandoned in our own country. We hope the government
\nwill immediately send us home to meet our families,\" Supriyanto,
\n46, one of the workers, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The workers come from East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara,
\nEast Java, Central Java, Sulawesi, Riau and North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
They arrived at Belawan seaport on Friday night aboard
\npassenger ferry KM Veruna Sakti from Klang Port, Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The ship had had to wait for more than 10 hours in waters off
\nBelawan as the local authorities banned it from docking in
\nBelawan harbor, citing the absence of vehicles to take the
\nworkers to the North Sumatra capital of Medan.<\/p>\n
The ferry was eventually allowed to dock at the port on Friday
\nnight, but the deported workers were left stranded at the
\nharbor's terminal until Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
No officials from the local social and manpower office were
\nseen meeting the workers.<\/p>\n
Hours later however, several trucks were sent by the Navy to
\ntransport the stranded workers to Transito Dormitory, where they
\nwere still languishing.<\/p>\n
Supriyanto, a father of three children from East Java, said he
\nand other workers wanted to return home immediately.<\/p>\n
Iyon, an illegal worker from Riau province, said the workers
\nwere deported by the Malaysian government because they had no
\nvisas or other working permits. Others had visas that had since
\nexpired, he added.<\/p>\n
Iyon, who worked for three months at a paper factory in Port
\nKlang, said he had been jailed for seven months at Trenggano
\nprison by Malaysian police before he was repatriated.<\/p>\n
\"There are still thousands of Indonesian workers jailed in
\nMalaysia. Generally, we have been detained for between three and
\nseven months.\"<\/p>\n
He said the Malaysian authorities had prepared detention
\ncenters specifically to hold Indonesian workers there.<\/p>\n
\"These 1,200 deported workers had been detained by Malaysian
\npolice in several prisons including those in Kedah, Taipeng,
\nSemeni and Trenggano.\"<\/p>\n
North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin, who was in Belawan
\non Saturday to attend a Maritime Tourism ceremony, said his
\nadministration had no intention of leaving the workers stranded
\nin the province.<\/p>\n
He said his office did not welcome the workers because it was
\nnot aware they were arriving in Belawan.<\/p>\n
However, the governor said he had set up a team, involving
\nofficials from the local social and manpower office, to deal with
\nthe problem so as to send them home.<\/p>\n
\"As usual, we will repatriate the workers to their respective
\nregions.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/deported-workers-continue-to-suffer-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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