Jakarta to make unskilled migrants feel unwelcome

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.