Government declares war on illegal labor exporters

Government declares war on illegal labor exporters

JAKARTA (JP): The government declared an all-out battle
against what it described as a well-organized network of illegal
labor exporters at home and abroad whose scope had reached
alarming levels.

Din Syamsuddin, director general for labor placement at the
Ministry of Manpower, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the
ministry was coordinating efforts with the Ministries of Foreign
and Home Affairs along with the National Police to ferret out the
network conducting an illegal trade of Indonesian workers.

Indonesian embassies have also approached international police
agencies to smoke-out the illegal network in countries such as
Malaysia, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Din claimed that one of the leads followed together with the
police led to the tracing of organizations smuggling workers
through Riau, Jakarta and Kalimantan to Hong Kong, Malaysia and
Saudi Arabia.

In a combined effort, the Ministry of Manpower would focus its
effort on tracking group labor organizations which secretly
collude with licensed labor export companies, Din explained. The
police and Ministry of Home Affairs would concentrate on foiling
activities and operations in rural areas such as East Java, South
Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara.

Din conceded much work lay ahead as hundreds of workers,
mostly women, were recruited from those provinces every week and
employed as prostitutes at Batam Island, Riau, before being
smuggled to Malaysia or other countries.

"These workers face an uncertain future. They have no
necessary documents to work overseas," he said.

President B.J. Habibie recently issued a presidential decree
appointing the National Police chief along with the Ministers of
Manpower, Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs as members of the
Coordinating Board of Labor Export (BP2TKI).

Din chided labor export companies for their lack of concern
and attention of workers, arguing that many companies merely
looked upon them as commodity goods.

He warned of stern action by the government if labor export
companies "have no sense of nationalism or commitment to
improving workers' welfare".

He added that four companies would be brought to trial soon
for falsifying workers' passports sent to Saudi Arabia.

A disparaging note also came from within the Association of
Indonesian Labor Export Companies (APJATI) itself.

Yunus Yamani, the association's deputy secretary-general,
urged the organization's executives to step down, calling them
unprofessional, uncooperative with the government and working
merely for their interest.

The congress was officially opened by Minister of Manpower
Fahmi Idris in Bogor, West Java, on Friday.(rms)