Govt rapped for poor citizen protection
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.