Govt readies for mass repatriation

Govt readies for mass repatriation

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is preparing temporary shelters for the estimated
300,000 illegal Indonesian workers leaving Malaysia under amnesty
next month, as they do not intend to return to their hometowns.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris said on
Wednesday following a limited ministerial meeting that the
government would provide services to procure legal documents for
the workers to enable them to return to Malaysia and work or find
placement for them at local plantation companies, including the
new palm oil plantation in Nunukan, East Kalimantan.

"We have arranged the shelters in provinces designated as
arrival points. Those who depart from Malaysia by land
transportation will be sheltered in West Kalimantan," Fahmi said.

Other workers will be in shelters across Batam, Medan, Jambi,
Jakarta, Jambi and Surabaya.

According to Fahmi, the government has designated 12 arrival
ports for workers who will travel by boat, including Tanjung
Priok in Jakarta and Tanjung Perak in Surabaya.

Other ports include Belawan in Medan, Dumai and Tanjung Pinang
in Riau and Kuala Tungkal in Jambi.

Those who will travel by air will arrive at seven airports in
Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Batam, Yogyakarta and Pekanbaru.

"The government will provide medical assistance at every
arrival point. We will also provide immediate assistance in
preparing all necessary documents, including passports, to enable
them to return to Malaysia as legal workers," Fahmi said.

Records at the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia show that
160,000 illegal workers will embark from the Malay Peninsula,
while the remaining 140,000 will embark from East Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur has promised the illegal workers amnesty if they
left the country before Nov. 14.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo said he had
ordered his staff to visit the workers at all temporary shelters
across Malaysia and help them prepare their documents to protect
them from being exploited by brokers.

"As of today, about 4,031 workers have registered with the
embassy and we charged them 40 Malaysian ringgit each," he said.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab
presided over the ministerial meeting on Wednesday, which was
attended by Ambassador Rusdihardjo, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda, Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf, Minister of
Transportation Hatta Radjasa and Operation Assistant to the
Indonesian Military chief Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri.

According to Rusdihardjo, the illegal workers would depart
from 12 points, including Tebedu and Entikong in West Kalimantan,
which borders Malaysia.

Fahmi had said earlier the government would allocate Rp 140
billion (US$15.3 million) to the mass repatriation.

Malaysia is home to 2.4 million foreign nationals, half of
whom work illegally in factories, palm oil estates and
construction sites.

The undocumented migration of Indonesians into Malaysia is
arguably the second largest flow of illegal immigrants in the
world after the migration across the Mexico-U.S. border.

Indonesian workers are attractive to Malaysian employers, as
they are relatively cheap, speak the language and readily
available.