Jakarta to make unskilled migrants feel unwelcome

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration will launch what it says will be a major dragnet to net unskilled migrants starting mid-November.

"We will launch massive raids against the migrants starting 11 days after Idul Fitri at locations across the city that we believe are popular places for migrants to stay while they are looking for jobs," said the director of the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency, Abdul Kadir, Tuesday.

Previously, Governor Sutiyoso stated that the administration would start screening unskilled migrants entering the capital by bus and train three days after the Idul Fitri holiday, which was normally the peak time for the reverse exodus.

Kadir argued that a period of 11 days would give his agency enough time to prepare the raids.

"In addition, after 11 days, those who are looking for jobs will still be in the city, while vacationers who have come to spend their holidays in the city ... will have left Jakarta by that time," he said.

During the house-to-house raids, mainly targeting rented homes and boarding houses, a combined force of personnel from the population agency, public order agency, the military, the prosecution service, the police and district court judges, would be deployed. Summary on-the-scene trials would also be held to process migrants who fell foul of the population control regulations.

According to Bylaw No. 4/2004 on population control and civil registration, new migrants must report to the population control agency 14 days at the latest after their arrival in the city. The bylaw requires a new migrant aged 17 or above, or who is already married, to obtain a visitor's identity card (KIP). They are also required to show documents certifying that they have permanent jobs and permanent abodes in Jakarta.

Migrants who violate the bylaw are subject to a maximum sentence of three months in prison, or a Rp 5 million fine. But in reality, the authorities usually only require them to pay fines ranging from between Rp 25,000 and Rp 50,000.

Some areas, like Jati Pulo in West Jakarta, Kelapa Gading Barat in North Jakarta, Cipinang Melayu in East Jakarta and Kalibata in South Jakarta are popular destinations for migrants as they are close to office and industrial complexes.

Sutiyoso said that the annual influx of migrants would be repeated this year, pointing out that Jakarta continued to be a magnet for unskilled migrants amid slow economic growth in other parts of the country.

"Worse still, the impact of the fuel price hikes recently have dealt a severe blow to less developed regions. So, we are actually expecting more migrants this year," he said.

With 70 percent of the country's money supply circulating in Jakarta, the city has to cope with an influx of between 200,000 and 250,000 migrants annually.

"Jakarta is on the brink of an overpopulation crisis," he warned.

Sutiyoso has repeatedly blamed the migrants for causing a host of urban problems, like worsening housing quality, rising unemployment and even flooding.