KL accused of 'fishing' for cheap illegal workers

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Labor exporters have accused Malaysian employers of fishing for cheap illegal workers from Indonesia, with Malaysian government authorities only issuing recruitment permits for a very limited number of foreign workers.

The Malaysian government has so far only issued permits for the recruitment of 57,000 foreign workers, or only two percent of the market demand there.

Secretary-General of the Indonesian Development Employment Agency (IDEA) Djamal Azis said on Wednesday that labor exporters here have been disappointed at the way Malaysian authorities have treated Indonesian workers.

"Malaysian employers are in dire need of Indonesian workers with the ongoing raids taking place to deport illegal immigrants. But they have been reluctant to request foreign workers from their own government because they want to encourage (Indonesian) job seekers to use tourist visas to work in Malaysia," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone.

He said that many construction projects in Malaysia have been suspended and many plantations have been left uninhabited following the crackdown early this month against illegal workers. More than 350,000 Indonesian workers have returned home following the raids and remain jobless due to the absence of official job orders from the Malaysian government.

Djamal said IDEA backed the Indonesian government's position, which has urged workers not to use tourist visas to work in Malaysia because this would make them illegal immigrants.

The government has warned labor exporters against sending illegal workers, warning that it would impose harsh punishments.

Law No. 39/2004 on protection of Indonesian workers overseas imposes a maximum five jail sentence and/or a Rp 350 million (US$37,000) fine against any person or entity found guilty of sending undocumented workers overseas.

The government supports sending properly documented, skilled workers overseas, which will help to minimize labor abuse and bureaucratic extortion. Legal workers are paid between 40 ringgit and 60 ringgit (US$16) per day, while illegal workers are only paid between seven ringgit and ten ringgit per day.

Djamal downplayed the recent threat from Malaysia to recruit more workers from Pakistan amid the ongoing maritime border dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia.

He said most Malaysian employers preferred to employ Indonesian workers because besides being relatively cheap, they also understood Malaysian culture, could speak Malay and had a good attitude to work.

Meanwhile, director-general for labor export at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry I Gusti Made Arka said the government would continue to diversify Indonesia's labor market overseas in an effort to help resolve unemployment at home.

"Besides seeking bilateral agreements with foreign countries that employ Indonesian workers, the government has intensified its lobbying of developed countries to seek job opportunities in their labor-intensive sectors," he said.