Illegal RI migrant workers in Malaysia to obtain passports
Illegal RI migrant workers in Malaysia to obtain passports
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Thousands of illegal Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia will
soon be able to obtain Indonesian passports, a crucial step for
the mostly unskilled workers to work safely in the neighboring
country.
Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo said on Monday
that the Indonesian Embassy and Consulate offices in Malaysia
would speed up passport processing, which targets more than one
thousand migrant workers within two months.
"God willing, the President will symbolically hand over
passports to three Indonesian citizens on Wednesday," he said as
quoted by state news agency Antara on the sidelines of the East
Asian Summit. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is in Kuala
Lumpur for the summit, will give the passports during an evening
gathering with the Indonesian community in Malaysia.
Susilo met with Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi on Sunday, reportedly to discuss, among other things, ways
to resolve the illegal migrant worker problem.
Rusdihardjo said that the move to issue the passports came
after the Malaysian government issued a decree in September 2005,
which basically stated that the Malaysian government would have
no objection if the Indonesian Embassy and Consulates intended to
issue passports for Indonesian citizens working in Malaysia.
He said that around 90 migrant workers were currently in the
final stages of obtaining passports from the Indonesian Embassy.
Malaysia, with its thriving economy, has been the largest
importer of foreign workers in the region, employing some 2.6
million workers (compared to a 10.5 million local workforce) in
sectors such as plantations and construction. Some are working
as domestic helpers. But around half of them -- mostly from
Indonesia -- are believed to be illegal workers, entering the
country without passports or working visas, a condition that
rights activists say makes them prone to abuse by their employers
and sometimes forcing them to be involved in criminal activities.
The Malaysian government launched a massive crackdown against
illegal migrant workers early in March of this year after a four-
month amnesty period, which allowed illegal workers to leave
Malaysia without being punished, ended.
But it was reported at the time that hundreds of Indonesian
illegal migrant workers chose to stay, hiding in the forests to
evade the crackdown, amid difficulties finding employment at
home.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Erman Suparno is scheduled to fly to Kuala Lumpur
on Tuesday to meet with Malaysian authorities for bilateral talks
over the migrant workers issue.
"I will meet with the Malaysian labor minister to have a
discussion to seek a permanent solution to the problems related
to the thousands of illegal migrant workers in that country," he
told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He added that he would also meet with Indonesian migrant
workers who have become stateless after the Malaysian government
unilaterally freeze their identity cards.
The minister said that he would follow up the results of the
previous bilateral talks initiated by his predecessor Fahmi
Idris, who is now the Minister of Industry.
He said that his immediate goals were to seek ways to improve
the remuneration system for Indonesian migrant workers and the
working conditions.
"The main agenda I will bring to Malaysia includes the issue
of the minimum wage for informal workers, working hours, overtime
payment, days off, health care and insurance," Erman said.