Deported workers in limbo, unemployment worries loom

Deported workers in limbo, unemployment worries loom

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ridwan M. Sijabat, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Adding insult to the injury of thousands of Indonesian illegal
migrant workers who are being deported from Malaysia is the
reluctance of many regency administrations to welcome returning
workers home.

These workers have now been banned from entering several
provinces designated as entry points to the country and transit
sites to their hometowns.

Some 500,000 illegal Indonesian workers tried to flee Malaysia
at the last minute before the government imposed strict new
legislation on Aug. 1 to crack down on illegal workers.

The massive exodus has flooded the country's border areas with
thousands of jobless people waiting to return to their hometowns.

"This is like an unforeseen disaster," East Java Deputy
Governor Imam Supardi said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.

North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin had earlier threatened
to turn ships away unless the central government funded the
workers' passage home.

"We have no money and the central government still owes us Rp
300 million (US$33,333) for the repatriation of more than 6,000
illegal workers to their hometowns in East Java and West Nusa
Tenggara in 1998," he said in Medan over the weekend.

A small number of the illegal workers have taken planes and
passenger ships, but the majority have had to rely on three Navy
warships deployed by the government.

As of Sunday evening, more than 130,000 workers, mostly from
West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, were still stranded in
Tawau in Malaysia's Sabah state, and Nunukan in East Kalimantan,
waiting for transport home while tens of thousands of others were
still heading for transit points in Malaysia.

East Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor Johanis Pake Pani and his
entourage paid a visit to Tawau and Nunukan on Sunday, but did
nothing to help the deported workers.

More than 400 penniless workers from East Java, East Nusa
Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara were stranded at Makassar and
Parepare seaports in South Sulawesi unable to pay their way home.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri established a task force on
Monday to deal with any deportation problems and the possibility
of sending the workers back to Malaysia.

"We will agree upon any new arrangements during the visit of
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad on Wednesday,"
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said.

The minister said the central government had allocated
Rp 5 billion to immediately take care of the deported workers.

He played down the fear that the deported would create massive
additions to the country's unemployment rate.

"We will send them back to Malaysia. They have money, they are
not refugees," the minister added.

The crackdown on illegal workers and their deportation has
sparked strong protests and criticism of both the Malaysian
authorities and the Indonesian government.

AFP quoted residents and officials in Kuala Lumpur as saying
on Sunday there were still a large number of illegal workers who
had not left Malaysia despite the possibility of being jailed or
caned.

"They are willing to take the risk. They think the government
will slow down its operation to rid the country of illegal
workers," said Mat Rozi, 32, who lives just south of the capital
Kuala Lumpur in a neighborhood comprising Indonesian immigrants.

The New Straits Times reported on Saturday that 600 illegal
workers had been arrested since Aug. 1.

On Monday, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM)
warned the government that a labor shortage caused by the
expulsion of illegal workers could hit Malaysia's economy hard.

"The government's move to repatriate illegal workers on Aug. 1
is expected to have a significant impact," the federation said in
a statement.

The Panca Karsa Foundation, which deals with troubled workers,
said Malaysia's new legislation would not only adversely affect
Malaysia's economy but would also raise serious problems in
Indonesia.

Endang Susilowati, chairwoman of the foundation, said Malaysia
was being unfair as it had benefited from Indonesian workers.

"Apart from the new immigration law, Malaysia is
discriminatory and unfair," she said in Mataram, West Nusa
Tenggara on Sunday.