Do not generalize about newcomers: Expert

JAKARTA (JP): A criminologist has said only a minority of the newcomers to the capital are likely to end up as criminals.

Harkristuti Herkrisnowo said it would take newcomers a relatively long time to become criminals. The surroundings and individuals' personalities would be the main contributing factors, she said.

But crimes here are not predominantly committed by the newly arrived, unskilled migrants, Harkristuti said.

"We cannot generalize that all newcomers failing to get a job will end up as criminals. A few could turn to crime or end up as illegal vendors. But we have to look further for the causes," she told The Jakarta Post.

Harkristuti was responding to fears that newcomers arriving after the Idul Fitri holiday would cause problems in the city.

Governor Surjadi Soedirja has said many unskilled migrants could either end up as criminals or illegal vendors if they fail to get jobs.

"Newcomers usually take advantage of people returning to their hometowns for Idul Fitri to act as their guides to Jakarta. Many end up as street vendors, beggars or vagabonds," he said.

The City Population Office said 3.05 million Jakartans went to their hometowns for the celebrations this year and returned with 329,468 newcomers.

Harkristuti, who teaches at the University of Indonesia, said a person would not turn to crime unless the conditions were suitable and opportunities presented themselves to break the law.

"Urban living conditions are more conducive to crime. There are more ways (to break the law) -- through the loosening of social norms and control, and wider economic and social gaps," she said.

But she said most newcomers worked hard to support not only themselves but also their families still living in rural areas.

Being unskilled and uneducated, most newcomers become servants, vendors, drivers and casual laborers, she said.

"The influx of unskilled migrants might become a problem for the city, but most of us need people to do these jobs."

Sociologist Paulus Wirutomo said crimes involving newcomers would mostly occur in the increasingly densely populated suburban areas, populated by both middle and low income earners. Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso has said that most crimes occur in the city's outskirts.

Population growth is currently growing at six percent in suburban areas while it is rising by only two percent in metropolitan Jakarta, Paulus said.

He said it was possible the increasingly visible economic gap could provoke jealousy and lead to crime.

People bringing friends back to Jakarta no longer try to find jobs and accommodation for them in the city, but in Tangerang and Bekasi, he said.

Paulus, also from the University of Indonesia, agreed that Jakartans were very reliant on the informal sector but said people like street vendors did pose a public order problem because of their growing number.

Initial intentions of foodstall owners to help friends from the villages to find work, he said, did not materialize. Both owners and helpers received less revenue given tighter competition.

Surjadi has said he would enforce a decree on population to curb the influx of newcomers, especially migrants without citizenship cards and letters guaranteeing employment and accommodation in Jakarta.

Harkristuti said enforcing the decree was good for the city to anticipate future population problems. Jakarta's population is currently about nine million.

But she stressed that to deter newcomers the real solution was to boost development in rural areas. (04)