Governors told to assist returnee workers

Governors told to assist returnee workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government has called on governors to help facilitate
the ongoing exodus of illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia
who are stranded in North Sumatra with no money to reach home.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said
that the workers, especially those without the funds to get home,
were facing a critical situation and needed emergency aid to
avoid Malaysia's new immigration law on illegal foreign workers.

"Under these circumstances, the local administrations where
the workers are stranded should provide accommodation and
financial aid to enable them to get to their hometown," he told
The Jakarta Post on Wednesday in response to North Sumatra's
rejection of sending workers home.

North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin has rejected funding
the transportation of thousands of workers arriving at the
Belawan and Teluk Nibung seaports to their villages in East Java
and West Nusa Tenggara, because Indonesia and Malaysia had agreed
that the workers would be sent directly to their home province.
He said he would help the workers only if the central government
provided financial assistance.

The workers, now housed in numerous dormitories in the
provincial capital of Medan and its outskirts, are waiting for
the provincial administration's help.

Only a small percentage of more than 100,000 workers returning
from Malaysia cannot afford to go home, while a larger number,
especially those returning through Riau, Kalimantan and South
Sulawesi, financed their trips or boarded ships provided by the
government and Malaysian authorities.

Thousands of workers were lined up in front of the immigration
offices on Batam Island and Nunukan, East Kalimantan, to apply
for a passport to re-enter Malaysia.

Nuwa Wea said that there was a bilateral agreement on the
deportation but provinces should realize the workers were in a
difficult and critical situation.

"They (workers) are Indonesian citizens deserving protection
from the government since they sought work overseas because of a
lack of job opportunities at home. They are real heroes, at least
to their relatives," he said.

The minister said the central government would reimburse
provinces that had helped fund the repatriation of workers.

"In fact, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and
Riau have been cooperative in helping workers," he said.

The minister accepted a phone call while he discussed the
workers' repatriation with the Nunukan regent at his office.

Nuwa Wea also warned governors of the possible smuggling of
workers to Malaysia and trafficking of women to be employed for
prostitution at home and overseas.

"We have told governors to coordinate with the authorities to
prevent brokers and syndicates from trafficking workers for
prostitution," he said.

Nuwa Wea said he appreciated Malaysia's decision to extend the
amnesty period from July 31 to Aug. 30 for foreigners working
illegally in that country.

"The decision was made at Indonesia's request since more than
90,000 Indonesians working illegally don't know about the law yet
as they are employed in remote areas of Malaysia."

Almost half of the 800,000 Indonesians employed in Malaysia
are believed to have entered the country without the necessary
documents.

Until Wednesday night, thousands of Indonesians were heading
for Malaysian ports to make their way back home.

The mass exodus of foreign workers follows Malaysia's decision
to implement the new immigration law, which threatens caning, a
jail sentence or a fine for illegal foreign workers and
Malaysians employing them.

The government is set to include the labor issue in the
bilateral talks between President Megawati Soekarnoputri and
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad slated for Aug. 7 in
Bali, to persuade the country to accept workers trained in
Indonesia and who had the necessary documents.

In other developments, Reuters reported on Wednesday that the
Taiwan Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs said it would put a
freeze on hiring Indonesian workers effective from Thursday.

The suspension was partly due to a high level of runaways of
Indonesian workers.

The labor council did not say how long the suspension would
last or if a total ban would be eventually imposed.