Over 1,000 illegal workers enter KL daily<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan and Fadli, Medan\/Batam<\/p>\n
A researcher at North Sumatra University (USU) revealed on Friday
\nthat at least 1,050 Indonesian migrant workers -- 35 percent were
\nwomen -- illegally entered the neighboring country of Malaysia
\ndaily.<\/p>\n
The migrant workers, who entered Malaysia via North Sumatra
\nand Riau ports, came from various areas of Indonesia, including
\nEast Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, East Java, Madura Island,
\nWest Java and Lampung province.<\/p>\n
Researcher M. Arif Nasution said, in 70.3 percent of cases the
\nworkers were assisted by a tekong, the captain of a boat who
\nwould transport them to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Migrant workers who were helped by their friends comprised 11
\npercent of the total figure, by their relatives, 8.3 percent, and
\nby their immediate family, 2.7 percent.<\/p>\n
The remaining 7.7 percent of migrant workers entered Malaysia
\nlegally, according to the research, including with the help of
\npotential employers.<\/p>\n
Arif said, migrant workers could enter Malaysia directly or
\nindirectly. Directly, migrant workers departed from North Sumatra
\nor Riau ports to arrive in Malaysia. Indirectly, they would stop
\nat several islands off Malaysia before entering Malaysia, or they
\nwould make a stopover at Singapore first.<\/p>\n
Arif, who has been studying Indonesian migrant workers in
\nMalaysia since 1998, said labor recruitment agencies had an
\nimportant role to play in the fate of the workers.<\/p>\n
\"They are deployed via Indonesian or Malaysian agents. The
\nagents demand Rp 3 million to 4 million from each worker,\" said
\nArif, the youngest professor of the School of Political and
\nSocial Sciences at USU.<\/p>\n
Ida, 46, a resident of Asahan regency, North Sumatra, shared
\nher experience of entering Malaysia illegally.<\/p>\n
She said, before she departed to Malaysia via Tanjung Balai
\nPort, North Sumatra, in 2002, she was asked to pay Rp 3.5 million
\nby an illegal labor-recruitment agency as a \"transportation and
\nsecurity fee\".<\/p>\n
She said she was overworked and treated badly by her employer
\nin Malaysia, who paid her Rp 800,000 per month. A few months
\nlater, she decided to go home to Asahan.<\/p>\n
\"I had to wash three cars a day and take care of four
\nchildren. I had to wash clothes and clean the house as well. It
\nwas just too much for me,\" said Ida, who is now a housemaid in
\nMedan, the capital of North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Recently, the tragic abuse of Nirmala Bonat, an Indonesian
\ndomestic helper in Malaysia, was brought to the public's
\nattention.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered on Friday the
\nMinistry of Manpower and Transmigration to be firm in monitoring
\nlabor-recruitment agencies, otherwise, she said, labor abuse
\nwould continue unabated.<\/p>\n
\"Nirmala's case was our fault. There are procedures for
\nsending migrant workers abroad that were violated, including the
\nfact that Nirmala was underage. Why was an underage girl sent to
\nMalaysia as a maid? All labor-recruitment agencies that violate
\nprocedures must be disbanded,\" she said, in Batam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/over-1000-illegal-workers-enter-kl-daily-1447893297",
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