Illegal foreign workers face legal action

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