Indonesian officials need to get their act together<\/p>\n
V.K. Chin, The Star, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia<\/p>\n
The campaign to get the Indonesian workers to return to
\nMalaysia on a fast-track basis seems to have hit a snag.<\/p>\n
Instead of tens of thousands of them coming back as legal
\nworkers in a matter of weeks if not days, it may be some time
\nbefore this will happen.<\/p>\n
The delay is puzzling as both governments were quite
\ndetermined to smoothen the process at the recent meetings between
\nleaders of the two countries.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has promised full co-operation in providing all the
\nnecessary facilities so that those Indonesians who left Malaysia
\nas illegal immigrants could return with the proper documents for
\nthem to earn a living.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of them took up the government's amnesty
\noffer, which expired on Feb. 28, before the crackdown on the
\nillegal immigrants.<\/p>\n
As a carrot, they were told that their applications would be
\nspeeded up for them to resume work here if they left voluntarily.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this is not happening and the hold-up is
\nnaturally causing concern for the Malaysian government, the
\nemployers and the affected Indonesians who are waiting anxiously
\nat home to be re-employed.<\/p>\n
It is obvious that the decisions made at the top were not
\nbeing implemented at the ground level in the Republic.<\/p>\n
Malaysian officials had expected a rush for applications and
\n11 centers were set up in Indonesia to meet this eventuality.<\/p>\n
Instead the 50-odd immigration officers are sitting there with
\nnothing to do and this situation should not be allowed to
\ncontinue for long without long-term effects on the Malaysian
\neconomy, not to mention bilateral relations.<\/p>\n
The hitch appears to be the formation of an Indonesian
\nconsortium to handle all applications from Indonesians wishing to
\nrejoin their employers in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
It is only with the consortium's approval that the applicants
\ncould make a formal application to the Malaysian Immigration
\nofficials based there for the work permit so that they could
\nstart their return journey.<\/p>\n
It is unclear what is holding things up at the consortium and
\nit is up to the Indonesian government to look into this as
\nquickly as possible as the long wait is not doing anybody any
\ngood.<\/p>\n
Malaysian employers will not be able to carry on with their
\noperations while the Indonesians unable to find work will face
\ndifficulties looking after themselves and their families, while
\nJakarta will lose valuable foreign exchange.<\/p>\n
The government and employers can only wait so long for the
\nreturn of the Indonesian workers and if the situation should
\nremain the same, then it will be necessary to look for labor
\nalternatives to fill the vacancies.<\/p>\n
Once this decision is made, the employment door will most
\nprobably be closed for the Indonesians and this will be a matter
\nof regret for both sides.<\/p>\n
If some Indonesian officials should feel that they could use
\npressure on Malaysia for whatever reason, then they would be
\ndoing their country and fellow countrymen a great disservice.<\/p>",
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