170 netted for not having ID cards
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)