170 netted for not having ID cards

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta mayoralty netted 170 people, 25 of whom prospective migrant workers, on Wednesday night for failure to produce their ID cards.

The 25 people turned out to be job seekers who were being prepared to be sent abroad by two private firms. The job seekers did not have Jakarta identification cards or travel documents from their villages, and had failed to report their arrival in Jakarta's sub-district heads.

"I've only been here a month, I've had no time to get a Jakarta ID," Siti, from the East Java town of Madiun, told an investigating officer.

The workers, all female but one, were caught in two houses said to belong to labor-exporting firms.

The women told officers that they had not paid PT Malindo Mitra Perkasa, the firm which was going to send them to Singapore, anything.

"All our needs would be taken care of, and for six months half our salary would be commissioned by the firm," Umi Salamah explained.

The women claimed not to know where the firm's office was.

PT Magenta, the other company involved, denied having any direct connection with the only male netted, Suyanto.

"There are many Magenta branches and workers usually stay with their sponsors in their own make-shift shelters," a receptionist at PT Magenta in North Jakarta told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Suyanto, also from Madiun, told the Post that he had paid the firm Rp 3.5 million eight months ago, but that he's still waiting to be sent to Taiwan as agreed in a written legal agreement.

Workers also told reporters that their passports carried false addresses.

"It's quite common to fill in fake addresses, especially for migrant workers' passports," Akiat, a staff member at PT Magenta, said. "Nobody really cares about accuracy."

None of those netted were detained, but 115 were sent to a social shelter in Kedoya, West Jakarta, to be given lectures on discipline.

Fifteen others were scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on Apr. 24. Failure to show ID cards is an offense in Jakarta.

The written report from the mayoralty office did not account for the other 40 people.

The raid, dubbed Operasi Yustisi is a yearly event following the Idul Fitri holiday. Lately it has come under fire for alleged unethical treatment of people.

Critics have demanded that raid personnel behave more humanely when conducting raids.

"It's natural for cornered people to slander others when they're given the opportunity," said Rustam Effendi, the officer who led the operation. "Just look at these people, most of them know that they are guilty. Have you seen any inhumane treatment?"

The raid netted people from all walks of life, from youths roaming shopping center at night to flood victims who have lost all their belongings, including their ID cards.

"We planned to head back to Citereup in two months when we'd collected some money," Madjid, a netted scavenger, told the Post at the South Jakarta mayoralty office.

On the other hand, Ibu Mar, another scavenger, said that she did not know what she would do if she were returned to her hometown in Demak, Central Java.

"I didn't have anyone or anything to do back home when I came here this February. I was sleeping in my cart by the public restroom when they woke me up," she told the Post.

Some officers, responding to the critics against the raids, felt that they had good reasons to conduct these ID raids.

"What would we do with you if you have an accident and we can't find out who you are ?" asked Marihot Hutagalung, an officer at the mayoralty. (14)