RI insists illegal workers are not criminals<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has appealed to Malaysia not to crack down on
\nIndonesians working in the neighboring country illegally, and not
\nto treat them like criminals, otherwise, Indonesia will stop
\nsupplying workers in the future.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said
\nthat Indonesia hoped the shooting of an Indonesian illegal alien
\nin Selangor over the weekend was the last such incident.<\/p>\n
\"With no intention of interfering in Malaysia's internal
\naffairs, the Malaysian authorities should not use guns to crack
\ndown on illegal workers, and should not treat them in such a
\nbrutal way, because they are not criminals. They are actually in
\nMalaysia to work to earn money, or in other words, to help
\ndevelop Malaysia, and their presence has benefited not only the
\ncountry but also its employers,\" he said after the closing
\nceremony of a national meeting of Indonesian industrial relations
\nmediators, here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Unus Arte, a 30-year-old worker from Flores, East Nusa
\nTenggara, suffered serious burns to his legs while attempting to
\nescape during a police raid on a plantation in Rawang district,
\nSelangor state. He remains in intensive care at a hospital in
\nSelangor.<\/p>\n
The incident has sparked a series of protests and numerous
\nnon-governmental organizations' condemnation of the Indonesian
\nand Malaysian authorities. Malaysia also came under fire when the
\nU.S.-based Human Rights Watch reported the abuse of foreign
\nmigrants, including Indonesian workers. It claimed that the
\nworkers were employed for more than ten hours a day, seven days a
\nweek; that they were underpaid and that their monthly salaries
\nwere often withheld.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian government has enrolled the assistance of
\n250,000 volunteers to crack down on around 1.2 million illegal
\nworkers -- mostly from Indonesia -- on plantations, and in
\nindustrial zones and construction projects, under the belief that
\ntheir presence has contributed to increasing crime in that
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Nuwa Wea added that Indonesia, through the foreign ministry,
\nhad officially protested the shooting incident: \"Besides sending
\na diplomatic note, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has
\nbeen asked to help disseminate information on the planned
\ndeportation of illegal aliens, by telling them not to attempt to
\nescape once the raid is launched,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia and Malaysia had agreed to deport the
\nillegal aliens in phases, to avoid human rights violations, such
\nas those that occurred in Nunukan in 2002.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia will certainly suspend the labor supply, or stop it
\npermanently, if the Malaysian authorities conduct the raid in an
\nuncivilized manner. Indonesia has stopped supplying workers to
\nTaiwan until now, and it took similar action regarding Saudi
\nArabia in the 1990s,\" he said, adding that the government had no
\nproblem stopping the supply of workers if Malaysia did not
\nrespect human rights.<\/p>\n
Legislator of the Golkar Party Rekso Ageng called on the
\ngovernment to temporarily suspend labor supply to Malaysia, in an
\nattempt to evaluate official procedure for labor export and to
\nprevent workers from entering Malaysia illegally.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, we should suspend labor supply to
\nMalaysia. All workers sent to Malaysia should undergo special
\ntraining, to equip them with the required skills, and to entitle
\nthem to a higher salary,\" he said, citing that Malaysia's
\neconomic development had been heavily dependent on Indonesian
\nworkers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-insists-illegal-workers-are-not-criminals-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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