Govt warns labor exporters

Govt warns labor exporters

JAKARTA (JP): The government warned manpower suppliers
yesterday that they would lose their permits if they misused
their documents to organize haj pilgrimages to Mecca.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher and Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief told journalists yesterday they would not
hesitate to revoke the permits of recalcitrant companies.

"We're not playing games here," Latief said. "We're taking
steps to deal with companies which are trying to dupe people into
going on a pilgrimage on a workers' passport."

"We are taking action to protect our workers, as well as our
haj pilgrims," he said.

Tarmizi said that "people who try to go to Mecca as workers
but are actually making the haj pilgrimage are immoral, because
they are depriving Moslems who want to go on the pilgrimage
through official procedures of the opportunity."

The two ministers discussed, yesterday, steps to be taken to
deal with the possible abuse of work permits by people who wish
to go on the pilgrimage illegally.

That such violations could occur appears plausible,
considering that Indonesia sends 80,000 workers to Saudi Arabia
annually, or about 7,000 people per month.

Indonesia can only send 195,000 Moslems on the pilgrimage this
year. About 36,000 prospective pilgrims are already on the
waiting list, pending a decision by the Saudi government on
whether to raise the quota for Indonesian pilgrims.

Tarmizi has, on a number of occasions, expressed concern that
pilgrims on the waiting list might be tempted to seek unofficial
ways to make the trip to Mecca.

The chances of those on the waiting list, or even that of
those who fall within the quota, could be reduced if the flow of
people going to Mecca as workers goes unchecked, Tarmizi said.

In addition, many Indonesian Moslems who went to Mecca earlier
this year on the minor pilgrimage (umrah) have intentionally
overstayed in order to join the haj pilgrimage, he said.

Tarmizi said the actions of these people might cause official
pilgrims who arrive late to be turned back.

The Saudi government had said that it would stop the inflow of
Indonesians once the quota of 195,000 had been reached, Tarmizi
said.

Both ministers said they had caught people going on the
pilgrimage masquerading as workers.

"Imagine, we found married couples aged over fifty who claimed
they were going to Mecca to work," Latief said. "What kind of
work would these old people be doing?"

If caught, infringing labor suppliers would be charged with
falsifying state documents, Latief said.

There are currently 150 licensed labor supply companies in
Indonesia. The two ministers, however, are more worried about
illegal labor suppliers and promised yesterday that they would
intensify checks.

According to Latief, the two ministries have agreed with other
offices, including immigration, to establish surveillance teams
to scrutinize people going to Saudi Arabia.

"We will check passenger lists and coordinate with the airline
companies and, along with the immigration office, monitor
everything in the field," Latief said.

Tarmizi said the government had been doing its utmost to
ensure that more people could go on the pilgrimage safely. His
own office had been working closely with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in an attempt to persuade Saudi Arabia to raise the quota
for Indonesia, he said.

Tarmizi has also cooperated with Minister of Finance Mar'ie
Muhammad in the matter of a state-owned bank which allegedly
altered haj payment data in order to get its customers out of the
pilgrimage waiting list and onto the list of those definitely
bound for Mecca for the Moslem ritual. (swe)