'Give the migrants some skills'

Starting next week the Jakarta administration will launch a crackdown on unskilled migrant workers coming to the city, a move which critics say is a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of movement. The Jakarta Post asked some residents about their opinions of the move.

Astrid Kusumaningrat, 34, works at a shipping company in South Jakarta. She lives in Depok:

I think the city administration has done the right thing by trying to prevent unskilled migrants from staying in Jakarta.

But I think that the administration should provide some sort of training for the migrants before making them leave so they would not go back to their regions in the same condition as when they left.

With the skills they gained from the training, perhaps they could start something useful in their own areas, and even open up new job opportunities for others.

This would help prevent new migrants from coming to Jakarta, and help generate money for their home regions.

Anna Mauliasari, 26, works at shipping company P&O Nedlloyd on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta. She lives in the Setia Budi area in South Jakarta:

I really don't think that raiding and evicting unskilled migrants will be effective, considering they're in Jakarta already. Just take a look at sidewalk vendors, they can run away and hide during the raids then come back when it's "safe".

What the Jakarta administration could do is to inform the public through the media about the difficult life unskilled migrants often face in the capital. Hopefully those already living in Jakarta would think twice about bringing in more unskilled workers, the same would apply to the migrants themselves.

If this doesn't work, I guess raids would be needed, but they would be more effective if conducted in places where people travel to and from their hometowns, meaning the city administration would have to cooperate with other regional administrations.

-- The Jakarta Post