Govt urged to take care of migrant workers
Govt urged to take care of migrant workers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several factions of Commission C at the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) expressed their concern on Monday over returning
illegal migrant workers and urged the government to seriously
address the problem.
The United Development Party (PPP) faction drew the
government's attention to the fate of some 600,000 migrant
workers who had been forcibly expelled from Malaysia.
"We hope the President will give special attention to the
problem," PPP faction spokesman A. Syahrudji Tanjung said during
a commission session.
Syahrudji said his faction recommended that the government be
more serious about giving protection to the migrant workers to
avoid similar cases in the future.
Meanwhile, the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction charged that
the government had not handled the problem of migrant workers
seriously.
"The problem of illegal workers shames us as a nation. Do not
exploit them (the workers)," PBB spokesman Darmansyah Husein
said.
It is widely known that migrant workers are exploited and
extorted by their brokers and certain Indonesian government
officials from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration,
customs and immigration offices.
One third of their salary, which could reach Rp 1 million
(US$111.11) a month, is reportedly slashed by the brokers and the
officials.
PBB recommended that the government prioritize labor intensive
industries which could accommodate the migrant workers. It also
urged the regional administrations to accept the returnees.
Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian illegal workers in
Malaysia have been forced to return home and many are facing
possible punishment for illegal entry.
Some 90,000 Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan are also
facing expulsion.
The government was totally unprepared to handle the problem
resulting from the returning illegal workers, leaving hundreds of
thousands of migrant workers stranded in cities across the
country.
Several regional administrations have stated earlier that they
could not accept the returning workers due to lack of funds.
The Interest Groups faction (FUG) and the Daulatul Ummah Party
faction (FPDU) both called for the creation of more jobs,
especially for migrant workers. They urged the government to
develop an economy which could create job opportunities for the
common people.
Besides migrant workers, party factions also urged the
government to improve its effort to eradicate widespread
corruption and collusion practices and to immediately solve the
conflicts in Aceh, Papua and Maluku.