Illegal foreign workers face legal action

Antara, Surabaya

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea threatened on Wednesday to take legal action against illegal foreign workers.

"I don't mean to 'sweep' foreigners but to uphold the supremacy of the law. A great number of foreign nationals work in Indonesia without a permit," he told journalists.

The "sweep" on foreigners refers to threats by local fundamentalist groups to expel Americans from the country.

An estimated 27,000 foreign nationals currently work in Indonesia at both local and international companies, according to ministry statistics.

Nuwa Wea, who was in Surabaya to attend a meeting of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said illegal foreign workers accounted for 50 percent of foreign workers here.

"They (the illegal workers) never report to the ministry. They entered Indonesia on tourist visas," Jacob said.

He said firm action was necessary because Indonesians working illegally in other countries, such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, were also subject to the same action.

"What the government will do is not a retaliatory measure. In the near future, Indonesia will enter the free trade era and this problem will have to be solved," he said.

The ministry will coordinate with related ministries and the immigration office to start the move by collecting data on illegal workers.

Moch. Jaelani, chief of the East Java office of manpower, said that the province had 6,000 foreign workers but only 1,000 of those had registered with the office.

"So the remaining 5,000 are illegal and we will deal with them," he said. --Antara