RI workers' deportations surprise local port officials<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
A total of 1,660 illegal Indonesian workers were deported home by
\nMalaysian authorities between Jan. 11 and Jan. 31 via Belawan
\nport in Medan, North Sumatra, in at least ten batches.<\/p>\n
The deportations have astounded the port's immigration
\nauthorities as they were made without prior notice from their
\nMalaysian counterparts.<\/p>\n
\"We only knew about the repatriation of illegal workers once
\nthey arrived here,\" Muriaandi, chief of immigration at Belawan
\nport, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He was speaking after receiving the latest wave of 287 migrant
\nworkers, which included 35 women.<\/p>\n
Many of them returned without footwear, wearing just a piece
\nof cloth clinging to their bodies. \"We had to leave all of our
\nbelongings behind. It was an order by the Malaysian security
\nofficers,\" said Steven, a resident from the island of Flores in
\nEast Nusa Tenggara (NTT).<\/p>\n
The arrival of the ill-fated workers from Java, Sulawesi and
\nSumatra as well as NTT, were also the target of unscrupulous
\npractices by brokers.<\/p>\n
To get to Belawan port, immigrant workers were transported
\naboard two ferries from Malaysia. They were later driven in
\ncoaches to a temporary accommodation center in Amplas.<\/p>\n
Local immigration officials admitted they did not know how the
\nworkers would be repatriated to their hometowns in Medan.<\/p>\n
\"When the workers arrived in Belawan, a private transport
\nagency, PT Bintang Seribu, came to handle transport arrangements
\nback to their home villages,\" Muriaandi said.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian government said it would send home some 450,000
\nIndonesian workers following a recent riot there involving
\nIndonesian illegal workers. The move drew criticism from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Some returning immigrants said they had been detained as
\nillegal workers for 15 days at Langkap immigration station in
\nPerak, Malaysia, before being deported to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Alwi, a 44-year old resident from the town of Sumenep on
\nMadura Island, said he had been arrested at his place of work by
\nMalaysian police on Jan. 17 for failing to show a working
\nlicense.<\/p>\n
He said he had obtained a working license to work in Malaysia
\nafter paying Rp 3 million. But on his way to the destination, his
\npermit document was seized by local staff in the Tanjung Uban
\narea, Riau.<\/p>\n
Since then, Alwi -- a former farmer who had worked in Malaysia
\nfor two years -- operated as an illegal worker. He said he was
\ndetermined to find a job in Malaysia after being persuaded by his
\nfriend.<\/p>\n
\"During my stay in Malaysia, I was forced to move from one
\nplace to another in order to escape arrest by local police,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However, he encountered some bad luck on Jan. 17 as the
\nsecurity authorities arrested him while he was at work at an
\nanimal husbandry company.<\/p>\n
Another illegal worker Susilawati, 21, a resident from the
\ncity of Banyuwangi in East Java, shared a similar experience. She
\nadmitted that her working license was confiscated by local staff
\nwho had accompanied her before she had headed off to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
She had left home in order to get a job with a good income.
\n\"When I was in Banyuwangi, I was jobless,\" said Susilawati, a
\ngraduate from her town's senior high school.<\/p>\n
The deportation of illegal workers, however, did not make
\nother Indonesians cancel their departure to Malaysia in search of
\nbetter jobs.<\/p>\n
Dimyati, a 20-year old from the North Sumatra town of Deli
\nSerdang, was determined to sail to Malaysia along with 29 other
\nIndonesians via Belawan port. They departed hours after the 287
\narrived there.<\/p>\n
The group of 30 intended to work at PT Son Fuat Plastik in
\nBlang Phat, Johor.<\/p>\n
Dimyati, who was accompanied by his parents to the port, said
\nhe had actually no wish to go to work in Malaysia after hearing
\nreports that Kuala Lumpur had decided to deport some 450,000
\nillegal Indonesian workers.<\/p>\n
But having been jobless for some time now and having already
\nspent Rp 3 million to obtain a working permit in Malaysia, he did
\nnot want to miss a chance. \"If we canceled the plan, the money
\nwould be considered used up,\" said Dimyati, who had arranged the
\nlicense in November last year.<\/p>\n
He said he would earn Rp 750,000 per month, including
\nallowances.<\/p>",
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