Govt rapped for poor citizen protection

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

House of Representatives legislators on Thursday attacked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for doing little to protect Indonesian nationals abroad.

The latest example, they said, was the deportation of nearly 200 Indonesians from East Timor recently.

Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda denied the allegations of incompetence and said while outcomes were not always rosy, the ministry had always done its best to protect Indonesian citizens overseas.

East Timor ordered last week the expulsion of nearly 300 ethnic-Indonesians, mostly Muslims, to Indonesia because they lacked residence documents.

The Indonesians had been living in East Timor since the territory was an Indonesian province.

The deportation issue dominated the hearing on Thursday with the House Commission I on foreign affairs.

"This is an extraordinary case. Why was the Indonesian Embassy in Dili unable to settle the problem?" Golkar faction member Slamet Effendy Yusuf said.

Amris Hasan, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, questioned the deportation process. Most of the deported Indonesians had not been able to take along enough clothing or food, Amris said.

"That (the deportation) was totally inhumane."

Hassan denied accusations the Dili embassy had done nothing to help the people. He said officials had visited a mosque in Dili and prayed with the deportees.

"The officials also asked the people for their passports and immigration documents," he said.

Hassan asserted that Indonesia should comply with regulations in East Timor, although it was only a small and new country.

At the hearing, legislators also questioned the foreign ministry's efforts to help several Indonesians on death row for criminal offenses in Malaysia and Singapore.

"How serious is the foreign ministry in dealing with these cases? Has the ministry provided lawyers for them?" Arif Mudatsir Mandan, of the United Development Party, said.

Hassan said representative offices overseas had always provided legal assistance to Indonesians facing problems abroad.

An example he said was the help given to 150 Indonesian workers, who were abandoned in Dubai and Kuwait after first being offered employment in those countries.

Asked about what he had done about the Papua situation, Hassan said the ministry had published books and brochures to counter the ongoing international independence campaign by Papuan separatists.

Ministry information showed the activists were organizing in churches and non-governmental groups and were being aided by powerful individuals, he said.