Taking a deeper look at migrant workers in Malaysia<\/p>\n
Wahyu Susilo, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The period from the second half of 2004 through to the
\nbeginning of 2005 was a vulnerable time for Indonesian migrant
\nworkers in Malaysia, who were besieged with uncertainties. The
\nMalaysian government had already warned in July 2004 that mass
\ndeportations of undocumented migrant workers in Malaysia would
\nagain be carried out based on its Immigration Act of 2002.<\/p>\n
This policy would be enforced by mobilizing around 560,000
\ncivilians -- members of the People's Volunteers Union\/RELA -- as
\nthe spearhead of raids to arrest and evict those carrying no
\ndocuments.<\/p>\n
Despite the Malaysian government's early warning, no
\nsignificant response came from the Indonesian government to
\nanticipate the implementation of this policy. Our government had
\napparently learned nothing from the bitter experience of the
\nNunukan tragedy in September-October 2002, when some 350,000
\nmigrant workers were deported from Sabah, Malaysia, to the
\nIndonesian frontier town of Nunukan, East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Because the Indonesian government failed to handle the case
\nseriously the deportees were badly neglected, resulting in the
\ndeaths of at least 85 and thousands of others starving and
\nsuffering various diseases.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's lack of serious response certainly caused concern
\nabout the safety of the country's migrant workers in Malaysia.
\nThe target of Malaysia's mass deportation operation was set at
\naround 1.2 million people, mostly comprising some 800,000
\nundocumented migrant workers of Indonesian origin.<\/p>\n
Only about 250,000 of these Indonesians returned home under
\nan offered amnesty, while over 500,000 others remained in
\nMalaysia. It is these migrant workers that the Malaysian
\ngovernment is targeting in its latest arrest and expulsion drive.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government's less than earnest endeavors can be
\ntraced to its failure to oppose an article in a Memorandum of
\nUnderstanding (MOU) regarding migrant workers between Indonesia
\nand Malaysia that was signed in May 2004, which gave authority to
\nMalaysian employers to hold the passports of Indonesian migrant
\nworkers. This effectively put their papers under their employers'
\ncontrol making migrant workers' position subordinate to their
\nemployers. In the event of conflict or disagreement, employers
\nwill frequently hold onto workers' documents. Consequently, the
\nworkers lose their papers and thus risk being considered illegal
\nimmigrants.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government, too, has systematically stigmatized
\nand criminalized its undocumented migrant workers just as the
\nMalaysian government has done so. By calling them \"illegal
\nIndonesian migrant workers\", our government has effectively
\nblamed the victims.<\/p>\n
The first thing the Indonesian government questions is the
\nlegal or illegal status of migrant workers, though the cases they
\nface are serious and require immediate attention. The Indonesian
\ngovernment's slow response to the death sentence imposed on
\nSuhaidi bin Asnawi, a migrant worker from Lombok, was because
\nthis worker had no papers.<\/p>\n
The same response was shown when two Indonesian migrant
\nworkers received prison terms and lashes on Feb. 1, 2005 for
\ncriminal acts. This attitude goes against Law No.37\/1999 on
\nforeign relations that gives a mandate to the government -- in
\nthis case Indonesian diplomatic missions abroad -- to provide
\nlegal aid to Indonesian citizens involved in court cases
\noverseas, as victims as well as defendants.<\/p>\n
In terms of manpower management, the government has also
\nfailed to prevent the massive growth in undocumented labor
\nmigration. This problem is very much rooted in the bureaucratic
\nred tape and corruption involved for Indonesian migrant workers
\nto obtain necessary documents to legally work overseas.<\/p>\n
Such corruption imposes very high cost burdens upon migrant
\nworkers through the imposition of arbitrary fees and wage
\ndeductions. For this reason, many if not most migrant workers
\nchoose to avoid these high costs and depart for overseas without
\ndocuments. Law No.39\/2004 on overseas placement and protection of
\nIndonesian migrant workers has not made a significant impact on
\nlabor placement management.<\/p>\n
On the demand side, the exodus of migrant workers without
\npapers to Malaysia cannot be stemmed as long as Malaysian
\ncompanies continue to exploit their presence in order to maximize
\nprofits. By recruiting and employing undocumented migrant
\nworkers, these companies do not have to pay the levies that are
\nrequired for properly documented migrant workers, and are also
\nfree to pay substandard wages because there is no obligation for
\nthem to enter into or abide by work contracts. The Indonesian
\ngovernment has never earnestly urged Malaysia to deal with these
\ndemand-side irregularities and to punish the Malaysian firms
\ninvolved.<\/p>\n
The three extensions to the amnesty -- originally until Nov.
\n1, 2004, then extended to Nov. 15, 2004, further to Dec. 31, 2004
\nand again to Jan. 31, 2005 because of the tsunami disaster --
\nshould be understood not as Malaysian government's \"benevolence\"
\nbut rather as the outcome of lobbying by Malaysian business who
\nfeared mass departure of workers.<\/p>\n
Most undocumented migrant workers serve the construction and
\nestate sectors, and losing so many of their workers so quickly
\nwould have caused a major setback in plantation production --
\nMalaysia's major commodities -- and also disrupt Malaysia's
\ninfrastructure development projects.<\/p>\n
The above factors should have been used by the Indonesian
\ngovernment as the basis of an analysis to find a solution to the
\ncrisis confronting Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia. Thus
\nfar the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia have assumed that
\ndeportation is the only way to settle the issue of undocumented
\nmigrant workers.<\/p>\n
In its realization, however, deportation leaves many issues
\nunresolved. Instead, every time a deportation takes place,
\ntension increases in Indonesia-Malaysia diplomatic relations.
\nThere is also great potential for violence and human rights
\nviolations, especially when civilian vigilante groups are
\nmobilized. Massive accumulations of deportees at transit points
\nalso leads to many serious problems, as was the case in Nunukan,
\nand comprehensive deportation management must be adopted.<\/p>\n
One solution to deal with the problem of undocumented migrant
\nworkers is legalization. This means sorting out these workers'
\nstatus problems by legalizing and handling their immigration
\ndocuments and working contracts in Malaysia, without sending them
\nback to Indonesia. Such a solution was chosen by the Korean
\ngovernment in 2003 to deal with a similar problem of illegal
\nmigrant workers in that country. By legalizing its problematic
\nmigrant workers without sending them home, Korea saved itself
\nfrom a scarcity of labor upon which its industrial policy
\ndepends, and at the same time systematically eliminated the
\nillegal recruitment of migrant workers.<\/p>\n
In the case of such migrant workers in Malaysia, legalization
\nof their status could very much be a win-win solution. For the
\nMalaysian government it saves millions of Malaysian ringgit that
\nwould otherwise be spent on raids and RELA mobilization.
\nMalaysian companies also make profits by avoiding a crisis of
\nlabor scarcity. For the Indonesian government this option saves
\ncosts that would otherwise go in anticipating massive numbers of
\ndeportees. For migrant workers, legalization enables them to
\nobtain proper immigration papers and get back to work with no
\nmore fear of raids.<\/p>\n
The writer is labor policy analyst, Migrant CARE, Indonesian
\nAssociation for Sovereign Migrant Workers.<\/p>",
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