Illegal 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.