Amien warns KL not to play with fire
Amien warns KL not to play with fire
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais warned
Malaysia on Sunday not to play with fire by caning illegal
Indonesian workers (TKIs) in that country.
"I urge the Indonesian government, in a dignified way, to tell
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad to stop playing games.
Mahathir is playing with fire," Amien was quoted by Antara as
saying in Solo, Central Java, on Sunday.
He did not elaborate.
Amien, who is also chairman of the National Mandate Party
(PAN), said that Indonesia was deeply hurt by the Malaysian
authorities' decision to cane Indonesian illegals there.
"Frankly, I feel disappointed, angry, and unable to accept the
fact that Malaysia, a modern country which belongs to the same
Malay ethnic group (as Indonesia), has resorted to punishing
Indonesian illegal workers in a way that is really inhuman,"
Amien said.
He said the Malaysian authorities were caning Indonesians like
cows and goats, which was an insult to the country.
Dozens of Indonesian workers have been caned, fined or
imprisoned since Malaysia put into effect a new Immigration Act
on Aug. 1. The new Act stipulates heavy punishments for
foreigners working illegally in that country. They are to be
deported after serving their sentences.
A large number of the around 480,000 Indonesian illegal
workers in Malaysia returned home before the Aug. 1 deadline.
The Indonesian government tried in vain to extend the grace
period by a month to give Indonesian migrant workers sufficient
time to return home in an orderly manner.
It also failed to reach an agreement with Malaysia when
President Megawati Soekarnoputri and PM Mahathir met at the
Tampaksiring Palace in Bali earlier this month.
The massive exodus has, however, created a severe labor
shortage in Malaysia, especially on construction sites, where
Malaysian contractors prefer Indonesians to workers from other
countries.
Indonesians are considered to be skilled, share a similar
language and culture to the Malaysians, and are the only workers
prepared to put up with the hot and tough conditions on the
sites.
Illegal Indonesian immigrants made up 70 percent of the
building industry's 500,000 foreign workers, according to the
Master Builders' Association of Malaysia (MBAM).
The crackdown on illegals has exacerbated labor difficulties
caused by a government ban on even the legal recruitment of
Indonesians for the construction industry, which was imposed in
February after two riots by Indonesian migrant workers.
Last Wednesday, however, the Malaysian government reversed the
ban on the employment of Indonesians in the construction sector
and agreed to a new recruitment drive after property developers
warned that construction sites were grinding to a halt and
project delays would cost millions of dollars, and possibly push
house prices up by as much as 10 percent.
According to Amien, Indonesia had to protest such harsh
treatment. Otherwise, the Malaysian government would go so far as
to start the stoning of Indonesian illegal workers.
"Send a special envoy to Malaysia if this is needed. If
necessary, we will have to get angry with the Malaysian
government. We have every right to get angry at Malaysia as we
are the ones who have been hurt," he said.