17 TKIs have died in Nunukan camps: Officials

17 TKIs have died in Nunukan camps: Officials

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least 17 Indonesian workers (TKIs) evicted from Malaysia have
died of dysentery, diarrhea, and asthma in refugee camps in
Nunukan regency, East Kalimantan, a local government official
says.

Nunukan deputy regent Kasmir Fored said that five of the dead
were children. Seven of the dead workers originated from East
Nusa Tenggara (NTT), eight from South Sulawesi, and two from
Java, Antara reported here Tuesday.

But NTT provincial government spokesman Marsel Tupen Masan
said in Kupang on Tuesday that as many as 14 migrant workers from
that province had died in camps in Nunukan, the latest victim
being a young man who passed away on Monday.

Fresh from a visit to Nunukan, Marsel said that dysentery and
diarrhea had afflicted thousands of workers in Nunukan.

In Jakarta, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said
that almost 75 percent of the 480,000 illegal Indonesian workers
in Malaysia had returned home without much difficulty.

"I hope the remaining 25 percent can return to Indonesia
safely," Hassan was quoted by Antara as saying.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian workers fled to border
areas early August after Malaysia implemented new immigration
laws that threaten mandatory imprisonment, caning and fines for
foreigners working illegally in that country.

Due to its proximity, Nunukan has become the main entry point
for returning workers from eastern parts of Indonesia. Tens of
thousands of workers are believed to have chosen to stay in
makeshift camps in Nunukan to process their documents to return
to Malaysia.

The government had pledged Rp 30 billion to help all returning
workers reach their home provinces.

Kasmir said hundreds of migrant workers and family members had
received medical treatment from local public health centers and
medical team members from South Sulawesi's Crisis Center.

Marsel criticized what he called East Nunukan's inhuman
handling of migrant workers, alleging that the workers had to pay
Rp 1,000 every time they took a bath and Rp 3,000 to do their
laundry.

He also said workers wishing to obtain a passport had to pay
as much as Rp 650,000 for a 24-page passport, compared with the
official price of Rp 160,000, and Rp 850,000 for a 48-page
passport which normally cost Rp 250,000.

The Nunukan Immigration office is issuing at least 1,300
passports daily, and so far about 70,000 workers have obtained
passports.

South Sulawesi Governor H.Z.B. Palaguna voiced similar
criticisms on Tuesday, accusing the Nunukan Immigration office of
incompetence.

Palaguna, who is currently visiting immigrant workers from
South Sulawesi in Nunukan, was particularly irked by Nunukan
Immigration's decision to accept temporary identification cards
and family cards to obtain a passport.

The temporary identification cards and family cards, according
to Palaguna, are provided by labor export companies, which
charged workers huge amounts of money for their services.

"Such an arrangement only benefits labor export companies and
their counterparts in Sabah, Malaysia only, while migrant workers
have to wait for days or weeks to get a passport," said Palaguna,
Antara reported Tuesday.

"I feel sad seeing workers waiting for days in Nunukan but
still their passports have not been issued, although they had
paid between Rp 2.5 million and Rp 3 million to the labor
companies," he added.

Nunukan Immigration deputy head Djumrah defended the decision
to accept temporary identification cards and family cards, saying
that the procedure was adopted after a recommendation from the
Indonesian Consulate in Sabah.