'Keep unskilled workers out by developing regions'

The Jakarta administration is planning to launch raids against unskilled migrants hoping to find jobs in the capital. The policy has provoked criticism from experts who argue that it violates people's right of free movement. The Jakarta Post interviewed some residents about the issue.

Edwina Zuldiany Gobel, 21, works for telecommunications firm PT Excelcomindo Pratama in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta. She lives in Jatiwaringin Asri, Bekasi.

I think the city administration is doing the right thing. Of course, we all pity them but what is there to do. It's better than they living on the streets and becoming involved in crime.

But I guess it's really comes down do what they are doing here in the first place. If they are really serious about getting a job, then they will of course have prepared themselves with some training first.

Right now, the raids and forced evictions may be the best policy, but in the future the government should employ preventive measures.

Doesn't the government have a training agency run by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration? I think they should also organize something similar in the regions, focusing on how they can improve economic development there.

Syarif Hidayatullah, 22, is a student who lives in Cinere, South Jakarta.

The high number of unskilled migrants arriving in Jakarta looking for work will not will further increase the population of the capital, but will also have the potential to increase the unemployment and crime rates.

Raids may be the administration's cure for this problem, but the government really should find more effective methods of prevention, such as maximizing the benefits of regional autonomy, so that all parts of the country become attractive places for doing business.

This, of course, means that the government must provide equal opportunities in education, health, public services and economic development in all regions.

Only then will the number of new migrants to Jakarta decrease, not because they are forcefully evicted, but because their home regions can adequately provide for their rights as citizens.

--The Jakarta Post