Expelled workers vow to return to Malaysia<\/p>\n
Jupriadi and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Makassar\/Medan<\/p>\n
Despite the threat of caning, fines and imprisonment, Aco, a 35-
\nyear old Indonesian worker fleeing Malaysia, still dreams of
\ngoing back once the situation has returned to normal.<\/p>\n
\"I will go back to Malaysia sooner or later,\" Aco told The
\nJakarta Post on Thursday in Parepare, South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Aco is just one of some 10,000 Indonesian workers from
\nParepare and surrounding regencies who fled Malaysia after the
\ncountry put into effect an immigration law that seeks to punish
\nforeign laborers working illegally in the country.<\/p>\n
He, together with some 2,000 other workers, arrived in
\nParepare, about 170 kilometers north of the provincial capital,
\nMakassar, on July 31.<\/p>\n
\"Even though the Malaysian authorities have already expelled
\nme, I will go back,\" Ako said when asked about his plans for the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Aco said Sabah had become his second home, more than just a
\nplace to earn a living.<\/p>\n
\"I felt happy there. It is so difficult to forget Sabah. So
\ndespite difficulties, I will definitely go back to Malaysia,\" he
\nstressed.<\/p>\n
Aco worked on a plantation in Sabah, Malaysia for two years,
\nearning RM 300 or Rp 850,000 per month, barely enough to support
\nhis wife and two children back home.<\/p>\n
Aco said he and his friends were initially very reluctant to
\nreturn to Indonesia, thinking that the immigration law was just a
\nbluff.<\/p>\n
\"But later the plantation owner got so frightened because both
\nIndonesian workers and plantation owners would be caned, fined
\nand imprisoned. We all got so afraid that finally we decided to
\nleave Malaysia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, home to some 300,000 illegal Indonesian workers, put
\ninto effect on Thursday its new immigration law, which seeks to
\ncane, fine, and imprison both foreigners working there without
\nproper documentation and Malaysian employers who hire them.<\/p>\n
Aco fled Sabah through Nunukan, East Kalimantan, from where he
\nand some 2,000 fellow workers took a passenger ship to Parepare.<\/p>\n
He is now living with members of his family in Parepare.<\/p>\n
\"I happen to have family members here. Before going home to
\nEnrekang, I want to buy some goods as gifts for may family back
\nhome,\" Aco said.<\/p>\n
Unlike Aco, Tahar, 32, a worker from Sinjai, said he would not
\nreturn to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"I will not go back to Malaysia; I want stay in Sinjai and do
\nsome farming there,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tahar said he abandoned his workplace immediately after he
\nlearned that illegal workers would be caned.<\/p>\n
\"I got so frightened, and everybody was afraid. So, I decided
\nto return to Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We took all our belongings, including livestock, because we
\ndidn't know if we would ever return (to Malaysia),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another worker, Setiadi, who arrived in Belawan, North Sumatra
\non Wednesday said that he did not have proper documentation.<\/p>\n
\"While I was in Malaysia, I had to change my workplace all the
\ntime,\" said Setiadi, who hails from Kali Angin, Sumenep, Madura,
\nEast Java.<\/p>\n
Setiadi, who worked as a freelance furniture maker in East
\nJava before going to Malaysia, said he decided to take the risk
\nof entering and working illegally in Malaysia because he had been
\nunemployed for so long.<\/p>\n
\"I was jobless for seven years. I could not stand seeing my
\nwife working as the breadwinner,\" Setiadi, a father of three,
\ntold the Post in Medan on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said he was once arrested by Malaysian police because he
\ndid not have a work permit.<\/p>\n
\"We were wrong to work in a foreign country without proper
\ndocumentation. The expulsion should be accepted with
\nforbearance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Abdaluddin, 32, of Asahan, North Sumatra, said he had to pay
\nRp 1.5 million to the owner of the ship that took him illegally
\nto Malaysia.<\/p>\n
He said he entered Malaysia several times illegally, as ship
\nowners often paid Rp 200,000 to Rp 1,000,000 to coastal security
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
\"To enter Malaysia, you have to pass nine security posts and
\nmust pay a bribe at each. Otherwise, you would be forced to
\nreturn to Indonesia,\" Abdaluddin said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expelled-workers-vow-to-return-to-malaysia-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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