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.