Migrant workers: Exporting people at risk<\/p>\n
Pipensius, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Orang Indonesia di Malaysia, Menjual Kemiskinan Mencari Identitas
\n(Indonesians in Malaysia: Selling Poverty, Searching for
\nIdentity); By Dr. M. Arif Nasution; Pustaka Pelajar, 2001;
\nxvii+153pp<\/p>\n
The monetary crisis that has crippled this country since 1997
\nhas inevitably led to the increase in number of Indonesians
\nhunting for jobs abroad.<\/p>\n
Job scarcity back home due to the fluctuating economy has
\nresulted in some neighboring countries in Asia and the Middle
\nEast becoming areas of economic asylum for Indonesian workers. Of
\ncourse, this phenomenon is somwehat ironic for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
This natural-resource rich country drew Europeans centuries
\nago to come to this archipelago for its riches.<\/p>\n
Today, however, to survive we have to work in other countries.
\nThe number of people who are unemployed and poor in Indonesia is
\nbelieved to be 45 million, or 60 percent of the entire
\npopulation.<\/p>\n
Nasution, focusing on Indonesian employees working in
\nMalaysia, starts his investigation with the global perspective,
\nthat contemporary human migration among countries is a phenomenon
\nresulting from the spread of global capitalism, since the fall of
\nCommunism.<\/p>\n
Over-production and the lack of raw natural resources in the
\nparent capitalist countries are among the factors that have led
\ncapitalists to try to find guarantees for their existence in
\nbackward but natural resource rich countries.<\/p>\n
The capitalist expansion in terms of money, technology and
\nmanagement to the developing world has transformed production in
\nthe country. Now, many multinationals are established that
\nprovide local people with alternatives from the traditional
\nagricultural foundation of society to make a living.<\/p>\n
Ever since Malaysia launched a new development policy in 1970
\ncalled the New Economic Basis, which was heavily focused on
\nindustrialization, the country has emerged as a newly
\nindustrialized country in Southeast Asia. This achievement led to
\nthe neglect of agriculture and plantations caused by the flight
\nof local workers to cities to work in the industrial sector.<\/p>\n
In the city they tended to work in factories and avoid work in
\nmenial outdoor jobs. This left jobs vacant in agriculture,
\nplantations, construction and the household sector, providing
\nopportunities for people from neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, naturally, has become a supplier, due to the crisis
\nand because it is a densely populated country, especially Java
\nand Madura.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government's transmigration program, sending
\nthe poor from overpopulated areas to more remote provinces such
\nas Irian Jaya, Lampung and in Kalimantan, did not work and
\ncreated even greater social problems.<\/p>\n
An alternative to handling the same old problem is by sending
\nthe unemployed abroad. Since 1975, the Indonesian manpower
\nministry established the agency AKAN to manage Indonesian workers
\nwishing to work in other countries. In performing its duties, it
\nworks with the Indonesian Manpower Supplier Association (IMSA),
\nwhich is affiliated to many private manpower suppliers.<\/p>\n
These agencies became the legal channels through which
\nIndonesian workers go to pursue jobs abroad. However, in
\npractice, many workers prefer to go through illegal channels
\nbecause the legal process is too time, money consuming and over-
\nbureaucratic.<\/p>\n
For those workers seeking to go to Malaysia, they tend to go
\nthrough illegal channels because it is cheaper and faster
\nalthough they are at risk on their journey there and in their
\njobs, as many horror stories attest.<\/p>\n
The writer points out some problems that need to be underlined
\nregarding the characteristics of Indonesian workers in Malaysia.
\nThe majority are unskilled and come from rural areas with a low
\nlevel of education.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, they can only work as housemaids or manual
\nlaborers in agriculture, plantations or in construction. Even so,
\nthey find better prospects when working in Malaysia and are able
\nto support their families back home. All these stories have
\nmotivated other Indonesian workers to join suit.<\/p>\n
Apart from the success stories, we also often hear the tragic
\nsituation that Indonesian women workers (TKW) face when working
\nabroad, not only in Malaysia but particularly in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Some of those who have been physically or sexually abused end
\nup, in their desperation, killing their abusers, sometimes facing
\nthe death penalty as a result.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government is usually powerless to assist the
\nwomen in such cases. But the government does not have the good
\nwill to help improve the professionalism of Indonesian workers
\nwho wish to work abroad. Most Indonesian migrant workers can only
\nbecome manual laborers because they do not have enough knowledge
\nand skills to enable them to work in the professional sector.<\/p>\n
Their lack of knowledge and skills make them unable to compete
\nwith better skilled workers from India, Pakistan, Thailand and
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
The author writes that it is now up to the Indonesian
\ngovernment to pay more attention to Indonesian workers working
\nabroad for they have helped this country increase its income. We
\nneed to give them proper objectives and protect them from further
\nabuse so they can pursue their dreams with a sense of security.<\/p>\n
Besides providing guarantees for their safety, the government
\nalso has to sue those formal worker suppliers and their personnel
\nwho blackmail Indonesian workers willing to work abroad. The
\ngovernment have to deregulate and simplify the bureaucracy so as
\nto prevent prospective workers from going through risky illegal
\nchannels, which leave them vulnerable to deportation.<\/p>\n
It is imperative for the government to help them improve their
\nlives for this country can no longer provide them their welfare.<\/p>\n
We should also accept and envision a policy to send the
\nunemployed abroad as an innovative way to tackle the problems of
\npopulation and unemployment in this country, for which our
\ngovernment has been unable to provide a solution.<\/p>",
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