Govt warns firms sending workers abroad
Govt warns firms sending workers abroad
JAKARTA (JP): The government threatened yesterday to close down companies which send job seekers abroad without following standard procedures.
"Any companies that smuggle or export workers without the necessary documents will be brought to court," Director General for Manpower Placement Abdul Rachim told The Jakarta Post.
He said the Ministry of Manpower in cooperation with the immigration office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had launched operations at home and overseas to crack down on illegal employment agencies exploiting Indonesian workers.
There are many companies, both at home and overseas, which function illegally as brokers, recruiting Indonesian job seekers and finding employers, he said. Such companies have often misused, or exploited, workers for profit.
Last month, the government revoked the license of two manpower supplier companies, PT AMP and PT TKS, for sending workers to Malaysia under papers other than working documents.
Rachim also said his office was checking a report in a local newspaper that over 100 Indonesian workers died in prisons in Saudi Arabia over the last year.
"If the report is true, the workers may have gone to that country illegally, or used the passport intended for haj pilgrims, to seek jobs there," he said.
Media Indonesia reported on Tuesday that the deceased workers were among 20,000 Indonesian workers classified as illegal immigrants.
It quoted anonymous sources as saying that the workers were jailed because they their employers' houses without their immigration and manpower documents.
It was also reported that many Indonesian domestic workers ran away from their employers because they were over-exploited, mistreated or raped.
Rachim acknowledged that many Indonesians worked in Saudi Arabia after completing their haj pilgrimage. "This tactic has landed many workers in prison because they have no proper documents."
When questioned about 12 Indonesian female workers allegedly forced into prostitution in entertainment centers in Malaysia, Rachim said that the report was not true.
"The Indonesian embassy, in cooperation with the Malaysian police, has conducted a field check and found no evidence that the women have been employed as prostitutes," he said.
Malaysia's New Strait Times reported recently that the women were forced into prostitution and forbidden to use contraceptives. According to the reports, the women's babies were then sold. The 12 women were returned to Indonesia after being held for a few days in Kuala Lumpur for questioning.
The director general said he would ask the joint Indonesia- Malaysia committee to continue cracking down on illegal employment agencies exploiting Indonesian workers.
He added that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia had also set up such a joint committee to handle Indonesian workers having trouble in that country. (rms)