Illegal migrant workers struggle for employment

Illegal migrant workers struggle for employment

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

The prolonged economic crisis over the past five years has
forced many Indonesian workers to seek employment abroad, mainly
in neighboring Malaysia.

Many job seekers have followed the existing legitimate
procedures to find employment abroad, but others have
unfortunately had to deal with the "hazardous process of
recruitment".

Media reports have repeatedly published the unfavorable fates
that Indonesian workers have met in Malaysia. The unlucky ones
are usually unskilled workers who have been illegal recruited.

Many of them get into trouble at sea or are deported upon
their arrival in Malaysia. The latest incident involved the
deportation of about 15,000 Indonesian workers last month. But,
this has not stopped job seekers from going there.

"We've heard so many amazing stories. And it really has
happened to them. Everyone's luck is different. Who knows, it may
be us who will be able to make lots of Ringgit (the Malaysian
currency)," said Purnomo, 34, a father of three from Lumajang,
East Java, at a camp of migrant workers in Pekanbaru, Riau.

Purnomo and hundreds of others were staying at the camp in
Pekanbaru, waiting to leave for Malaysia.

Pekanbaru has become a popular destination for people who try
to seek money in Malaysia because of its proximity to the
neighboring country. They have come not only from towns on
Sumatra, but also from regencies in Java, Lombok in West Nusa
Tenggara, and Flores in East Nusa Tenggara.

They have left their hometowns, not because they have no
loyalty to the country, but for more practical reasons.

"There was no hope in my hometown, why should I stay? It's
better for me to go to Malaysia," said Adi Eka, 26, from Lombok.

Others said they sought jobs abroad because there was no
fertile soil for them to grow plants in their hometowns.

But, they do not get to reach Malaysian soil for free. They
have to pay at least Rp 4 million (US$444) to pursue their dream.
The money will be given to the "employment brokers" as part of
the "administrative requirements".

As soon as the number of workers reaches about 100, the
brokers will contact their counterparts in Riau to pick the job
seekers up in Pekanbaru.

A retired broker Hendrik Situmorang said the money collected
from the job seekers was spent to smoothen the whole process,
beginning from the workers' recruitment in their hometowns, their
settlement in Riau, until they reach Malaysia.

After completing all the "administrative requirements", the
job seekers are brought to Dumai port, 200 kilometers from
Pekanbaru, or Bagan Siapiapi, 300 kilometers from the city, for
the journey to the "land of hope".

They do not travel on a luxurious ship, but on a 40-square-
meter traditional ship. They depart at night to avoid security
patrols.

In an attempt to avoid Malaysian police raids, the workers
travel on their own until they reach the coast. They are forced
to jump and swim a hundred meters to reach land.

"Those who can swim will survive. I don't know about those who
can't. My job is only to take them there," said Hasan, a crew
member.

Reaching land is not the final hurdle. After landing, they
still have to play hide and seek with the Malaysian security
forces and meet the local brokers.

It is the local brokers who will assign them to their masters.
They are mostly employed in palm plantations, the logging
industry or construction projects.

In return for their services, the Indonesian workers are
forced to hand over their first two-months salary to the brokers.

It is relatively easy to earn money in Malaysia. A
construction worker who works eight hours a day will receive 30
Malaysian Ringgit (US$7.9), excluding overtime.

Although they are better paid, they still worry about their
fake documents as security forces often launch raids in the
evening.

A former member of staff with the Riau office of the Ministry
of Justice and Human Rights, Sudarno Mahyudin, said Indonesian
workers usually hide in their houses.

"If security officers come, the illegal workers hide. But they
can't avoid the police when they bring along dogs who sniff them
out," he told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview in Bagan
Siapiapi.

He said the government understood the situation, but had done
nothing because of the country's increasing unemployment problem.

The government, he added, must also pay attention to
Indonesian manual workers abroad.

Chairman of Riau Provincial Legislature's Commission for
Politics and Security Roland Aritonang said the increasing number
of Indonesian workers deported to Riau would only cause crime.

Roland said the deported workers had no money and so often
took to crime to survive.

Many of the 15,000 workers deported last month were still in
Riau because the local government had no money to send them home.