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)