DPR angry at smuggling of workers

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) attacked the government yesterday for doing little to stop smuggling of workers to neighboring Malaysia.

The DPR commission I in charge of security and foreign relations said the Indonesian government seemed to close their eyes to the long-standing problem of worker smuggling.

"The government should do more to solve the problem before it brings unwanted consequences," said commission spokesman Soerjo Handjono in a plenary session discussing the results of commissions' recent fact-finding visits to provinces.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians work legally or otherwise in the more affluent neighbor, mostly in the construction and plantation industries.

Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur already have an arrangement on legalization of Indonesian workers in Malaysia to ensure their protection. However, illegal workers from Indonesia continue to stream in.

Handjono warned that illegal sending of workers along with the rife smuggling of rattan and poaching in Indonesian waters pose a threat to security if the government fails to take proper actions.

The commission acknowledged that worker smuggling would remain unresolved as long as Indonesia remained much less affluent than Malaysia, where wages are significantly higher than in Indonesia.

Malaysian businesses, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, require unskilled workers from Indonesia.

"Illegal worker sending has become a lucrative business for brokers who collaborate with corrupt officials," Handjono said.

He called on the Ministry of Manpower to intensify its efforts to stop the flow of illegal workers to Malaysia by improving coordination with other related ministries and the powerful Armed Forces (ABRI).

Control over the shipping of workers is so slack that the government raises the issue of the laborers' plight only when their boats sink at sea, he said.

West Nusa Tenggara and Java are currently the largest source of workers to Malaysia. (pan)