Govt urged to help free 6,000 workers detained in KL
Govt urged to help free 6,000 workers detained in KL
JAKARTA (JP): Eleven non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
urged yesterday the government and the National Committee for
Human Rights to help release 6,000 Indonesian workers confined in
Malaysian detention centers.
The NGOs asked the government to openly inform the public
about the condition of Indonesian workers, especially those who
are detained in various detention camps in Malaysia which are
said to be in poor condition.
Hamsuk S. Widjaja, the immigration attache at the Indonesian
embassy in Kuala Lumpur, told visiting Indonesian reporters that
about 6,000 Indonesian workers are currently being held in
detention centers in Malaysia.
Tenaganita, a Malaysian NGO, has sent a report to the
Indonesian embassy based on a survey of the condition of 340
detainees in Semenyih, Juru, Kelantan, Johor and Malaka detention
centers.
Tenaganita stated that many Indonesian workers have been
treated badly, and that some of detainees have been raped and
tortured.
The NGOs have asked the government to inspect the workers'
state in the Malaysian detention centers and offer the necessary
protection.
The Tenaganita report states that in the Semenyih detention
center there is only one toilet for 400 people. "They are not
given clothes and have only one set of clothing for a month," it
states.
"The condition of the food is very poor," it reports. "Only
one handful of cooked rice and a small amount of vegetables are
given to the detainees as well as a small amount of salted fish,
divided between 20 people, is given for the main meal. At
breakfast they receive two slices of bread, or cookies, and
water. Occasionally they get to drink a small mug of black
coffee," the report further states.
Tati Krisnawaty of a Jakarta-based women's organization said
it is not easy to get the exact number of workers in Malaysia and
their sex because most of them do not have official documents.
They are not illegal, "only undocumented", she said. Tati
added that they are not criminals, they are only looking for jobs
there.
Most Indonesian workers sent to Malaysia have poor educational
backgrounds, said Arifin M. Nur of the Mawaddah Foundation.
They are only good for manual work or to work as domestic
helpers, he said.
"They are usually less 'marketable' compared to Filipinos
because they do not speak English and are not used to electronic
equipment," he said.
Arifin said that they are usually taken from the Indonesian
countryside by labor recruiters and gathered by unauthorized
overseas workers companies.
Tati said that even some authorized companies do not equip
workers with complete documents. It shows, she said, that worker
exporters tend to misuse would-be workers and the Ministry of
Manpower should improve its supervision in this area.
"These companies may be charged in court with selling people,
fraud and conning them with empty promises," a legal aid worker
of the Legal Aid Institute said.
Tati said that her organization has urged the immigration
office to curb this illicit business but the office seems to have
got fed up with the situation and now shows a tendency of washing
its hands of it all.
Yanti Mochtar of the Women's Solidarity Association said that
since oil and gas exports has decreased in revenues, the
government has taken fees from exported workers. (16)