Indonesia to sue Malaysian employers

Indonesia to sue Malaysian employers

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris said over the
weekend that the government has hired Malaysian lawyers to sue
Malaysian companies that are allegedly withholding the salaries
of Indonesian workers.

"The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has hired five
professional lawyers to represent the Indonesian government and
the workers to sue Malaysian employers who have allegedly
withheld their Indonesian employees' salaries," he said after the
inauguration of a labor housing complex in Serang Baru township,
Bekasi, West Java.

Fahmi said he would leave for Kuala Lumpur on Monday to
discuss the government's new move with Malaysian home affairs
minister Azmi Khalid.

"We appreciate the Malaysian government's action to call on
its companies employing illegal immigrants to send them back home
and pay their salaries, but it has not been effective. Besides,
Malaysian authorities have apparently failed to impose its harsh
immigration law against Malaysian companies employing illegal
foreign immigrants," he said.

The minister argued that most Indonesian immigrants working
illegally in Malaysia could not return home, despite the amnesty
offered by the Malaysian government, as their salaries have been
withheld by their employers.

The government has urged Malaysian authorities to be fair in
enforcing the harsh immigration law by taking action against
illegal immigrants and their employers. Vice President Jusuf
Kalla has asked Malaysia to be realistic about the issue, since
Malaysian companies would be facing a shortage of workers if the
Indonesian workers were deported.

Following the end on Jan. 31 of the three-month amnesty
program, Malaysia has suspended a major raid on illegal
immigrants amid fears that it could lead to human rights
violations and to the arrest of numerous Malaysian employers.

Police and civilian volunteers have been deployed to
companies, construction projects and plantations believed to have
employed illegal workers, but there has been no mass exodus of
illegal immigrants from the country to Indonesia. In fact, some
400,000 Indonesian immigrants continue to work in Malaysia.

More than 90 Indonesian workers employed in two construction
projects in Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, have hired a Malaysian
lawyer to sue their employers for withholding their salaries.

Lukman, one of the workers, said they have no money to return
home as their salaries had not been paid for many months.

"The workers are employed by Sri Jaya Bhd and Plato
Construction Bhd in Damansara, Petaling Jaya. We must not be
blamed for our illegal status here, because actually we want to
take advantage of the amnesty, but we are blocked by our
employers who have withheld our salaries," he said.

Many workers who recently arrived home have expressed their
reluctance to return to Malaysia, citing abuse and their
employers' refusal to pay their salaries.

They said they had succeeded in fleeing from their workplaces
with the help of third parties, including their colleagues.