Do not generalize about newcomers: Expert<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A criminologist has said only a minority of the
\nnewcomers to the capital are likely to end up as criminals.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti Herkrisnowo said it would take newcomers a
\nrelatively long time to become criminals. The surroundings and
\nindividuals' personalities would be the main contributing
\nfactors, she said.<\/p>\n
But crimes here are not predominantly committed by the newly
\narrived, unskilled migrants, Harkristuti said.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot generalize that all newcomers failing to get a job
\nwill end up as criminals. A few could turn to crime or end up as
\nillegal vendors. But we have to look further for the causes,\" she
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti was responding to fears that newcomers arriving
\nafter the Idul Fitri holiday would cause problems in the city.<\/p>\n
Governor Surjadi Soedirja has said many unskilled migrants
\ncould either end up as criminals or illegal vendors if they fail
\nto get jobs.<\/p>\n
\"Newcomers usually take advantage of people returning to their
\nhometowns for Idul Fitri to act as their guides to Jakarta. Many
\nend up as street vendors, beggars or vagabonds,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The City Population Office said 3.05 million Jakartans went to
\ntheir hometowns for the celebrations this year and returned with
\n329,468 newcomers.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti, who teaches at the University of Indonesia, said
\na person would not turn to crime unless the conditions were
\nsuitable and opportunities presented themselves to break the law.<\/p>\n
\"Urban living conditions are more conducive to crime. There
\nare more ways (to break the law) -- through the loosening of
\nsocial norms and control, and wider economic and social gaps,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
But she said most newcomers worked hard to support not only
\nthemselves but also their families still living in rural areas.<\/p>\n
Being unskilled and uneducated, most newcomers become
\nservants, vendors, drivers and casual laborers, she said.<\/p>\n
\"The influx of unskilled migrants might become a problem for
\nthe city, but most of us need people to do these jobs.\"<\/p>\n
Sociologist Paulus Wirutomo said crimes involving newcomers
\nwould mostly occur in the increasingly densely populated suburban
\nareas, populated by both middle and low income earners. Jakarta
\nMilitary Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso has said that most crimes
\noccur in the city's outskirts.<\/p>\n
Population growth is currently growing at six percent in
\nsuburban areas while it is rising by only two percent in
\nmetropolitan Jakarta, Paulus said.<\/p>\n
He said it was possible the increasingly visible economic gap
\ncould provoke jealousy and lead to crime.<\/p>\n
People bringing friends back to Jakarta no longer try to find
\njobs and accommodation for them in the city, but in Tangerang and
\nBekasi, he said.<\/p>\n
Paulus, also from the University of Indonesia, agreed that
\nJakartans were very reliant on the informal sector but said
\npeople like street vendors did pose a public order problem
\nbecause of their growing number.<\/p>\n
Initial intentions of foodstall owners to help friends from
\nthe villages to find work, he said, did not materialize. Both
\nowners and helpers received less revenue given tighter
\ncompetition.<\/p>\n
Surjadi has said he would enforce a decree on population to
\ncurb the influx of newcomers, especially migrants without
\ncitizenship cards and letters guaranteeing employment and
\naccommodation in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti said enforcing the decree was good for the city to
\nanticipate future population problems. Jakarta's population is
\ncurrently about nine million.<\/p>\n
But she stressed that to deter newcomers the real solution was
\nto boost development in rural areas. (04)<\/p>",
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