Govt tasks Bachtiar with settling migrant workers issue<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Onny Setiawan, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Samarinda<\/p>\n
In a desperate move to help hundreds of thousands illegal
\nIndonesian workers returning from Malaysia, the government has
\nassigned Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah to take
\ncomprehensive action.<\/p>\n
Bachtiar said the government would focus on feeding,
\naccommodating and transporting the workers back home, tasks which
\nwere in fact already being carried but with a lack of proper
\ncoordination.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the government will have completed the action in one
\nweek,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bachtiar said officials from his ministry, the Navy, the
\nImmigration Office, and the Ministry of Manpower and
\nTransmigration would meet on Friday to deal with the problem of
\nthe returning workers.<\/p>\n
He expected there would be no problem in transporting them,
\nand the Immigration office would soon process the applications of
\nworkers who wished to work in Malaysia again.<\/p>\n
The move, however, seems somewhat overdue, ironic given that
\nIndonesia's migrant workers, including the illegal ones, have
\nbeen contributing billions of dollars to the country for years.<\/p>\n
Some provincial administrations had even reportedly rejected
\nthe arrival of the returnees, although they later changed their
\nstances.<\/p>\n
Separately, Hary Hariawan Saleh, director general of
\npopulation mobilization at the Ministry of Manpower and
\nTransmigration, said the government had allocated Rp 7.6 billion
\n(US$840,000) to help the workers until the end of August.<\/p>\n
Former minister of manpower Bomer Pasaribu criticized the
\ngovernment's sluggish response to the workers' forced return,
\nwhich had been predicted since last year following riots staged
\nby Indonesian workers.<\/p>\n
He also warned that the returning workers would create big
\nproblems at home as there were no jobs here for them.<\/p>\n
Even without the returning workers, Indonesia was faced with
\nmore than 40 million unemployed, millions of refugees and the
\narduous task of recovering from the 1997 economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Illegal Indonesian workers in Malaysia are rushing to return
\nhome ahead of the implementation by Malaysia of its new
\nImmigration Act, which threatens illegal workers with canning.<\/p>\n
The Act was supposed to take effect on Thursday, but the
\nMalaysian government decided to delay the repatriation of the
\nillegal immigrants for one month at the request of the Indonesian
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
In the latest development, AFP reported that Malaysian police
\narrested on Thursday 135 illegal immigrants -- including
\nIndonesians -- who were seeking asylum outside the UN refugee
\nagency in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, the Malaysian Police began cracking down on
\nIndonesian immigrants living illegally in Kinabalu and Tawau,
\nEast Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Makdum Taher, Indonesian consul general in Tawau, reported
\nthat Malaysian police were raiding passenger buses heading to
\nTawau and arresting illegal workers on the orders of Sabah Chief
\nMinister Chong K.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysian police arrested workers who did not have the
\nrequired immigration documents to stay and work in Sabah, because
\nthey considered the new Immigration law was effective as of Aug.
\n1, 2002,\" Nunukan Seaport Administrator Simanjuntak quoted Makdum
\nas saying.<\/p>\n
He said the arrests occurred in Talukit and Kinabalu on
\nThursday. The police were apparently ignorant of the Malaysian
\ngovernment's decision to extend the amnesty period until Aug. 30,
\n2002 for those who could prove they were in the process of
\nleaving the country.<\/p>\n
Malaysian officials said 318,000 illegal immigrants left the
\ncountry under the amnesty. More than 80 percent were Indonesians.<\/p>",
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