Govt to curb illegal outflow of RI workers

Govt to curb illegal outflow of RI workers

JAKARTA (JP): The government will launch a major operation to
stop Indonesian citizens leaving the country to work abroad
illegally, Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief announced yesterday.

The operation would be conducted both at the major
destinations of the workers and in their home provinces, Latief
said.

"The Ministry of Manpower will strengthen coordination with
the immigration office, the police, Indonesian embassies overseas
and provincial administrations," he said after meeting with
President Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office.

He said he planned to call a meeting of representatives of
Indonesian embassies and consulates in Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi
Arabia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as governors of a number of
provinces. The meeting would aim, he said, to coordinate efforts
to stop the smuggling of Indonesian workers to other countries.

The minister said Indonesians working illegally abroad were
easy prey for exploitative employers because they did not enjoy
the legal protection afforded to workers who sought work overseas
through legal channels.

More than one million Indonesians are currently working
abroad. Of that number, only between 600,000 and 700,000 were
sent by manpower supply agencies.

Latief acknowledged that the government did not know the exact
number of Indonesians working illegally abroad. "It is difficult
to detect them all," he said.

But there were strong indications that people were still
pursuing illegal channels to go abroad, he said.

During a recent surprise inspection on Batam island in Riau,
the minister discovered a syndicate in the process of sending 60
workers across to Malaysia. Authorities in East Java recently
stopped 50 Indonesians as they were boarding a plane to Hong
Kong. The authorities say the 50 were planning to work in the
British colony illegally.

Latief identified North Sumatra, Riau and West Kalimantan as
the three provinces most often used as transit points for
syndicates smuggling Indonesian workers to Malaysia.

Central Java, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa
Tenggara and South Sulawesi were the home provinces of most of
the workers taking part in the illegal schemes, he said.

Government officials have acknowledged that the smuggling of
workers has continued because of the difficulties and high costs
faced by workers seeking work abroad through legal channels.

The minister acknowledged yesterday that many people were
attracted to working overseas and that the high level of
unemployment in Indonesia was the main reason. Indonesia had
135,000 new university graduates each year, he said, but only 40
percent of them were able to find jobs immediately.

Latief also reported to the President on the implementation of
the new minimum wage regulations, effective since the beginning
of this month; on the recent meeting of the governing body of the
International Labor Organization in Geneva; and on the informal
meeting of manpower ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations which is scheduled to take place in Bangkok later
this month. (rms)