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)