'Indonesia needs to make approach to Malaysia'

'Indonesia needs to make approach to Malaysia'

Agencies, Jakarta/Medan

Indonesia needs to make neighborly approaches to Malaysia after labor riots there prompted a temporary ban on hiring new Indonesian workers, Vice President Hamzah Haz said Friday.

"We need to approach Malaysia because it is our neighbor and work opportunities are great there," Hamzah was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying.

Hamzah said he had no plan to visit Malaysia. "But maybe a visit would be made because we think that the affairs of Indonesian workers are also our problem."

The vice president said Indonesian labor exporters should provide workers with necessary training before sending them abroad.

Some 400 Indonesians staged a protest at a textile factory in western state of Negeri Sembilan on Jan. 17 after police tried to detain 16 of their co-workers for drug abuse.

The police arrested 147 people after the riot, in which police vehicles were overturned and officers stoned.

Three days later about 70 Indonesian construction workers armed with machetes went on the rampage and damaged food stalls run by fellow Indonesians at Cyberjaya south of Kuala Lumpur.

Ninety one Indonesians have been deported and more are due to be sent home.

That incident came a month after more than 1,600 illegal Indonesian immigrants at a detention camp in southern Johor state rioted and burned down some of their quarters.

Indonesian ministers have expressed deep concerns over the riots and two officials have been sent to Malaysia to try to help resolve the problem.

On Wednesday Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government decided to ban the workers after the riots.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Thursday defended the temporary ban on hiring new Indonesian workers and said the decision would not sour relations.

"We enjoy good relations with the Indonesian government. It is them (rioters) who sour the relations," Mahathir said.

Malaysia has more than a million foreign workers, mostly from poorer neighbors including Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Manpower Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said that relations with Malaysia would not be hurt by the latter's decision to ban new workers from the former, but he hoped that the ban would soon be lifted.

"That (decision) is just temporary and will not hurt both country's relations," Jacob told reporters in Medan.

Work for Indonesians abroad is an important source of foreign exchange for the country and also helps alleviate widespread unemployment at home.

Malaysia is home to some 750,000 foreign workers, mainly from Indonesia.