'KL's call for Malaysians to avoid traveling to RI unwarranted'
'KL's call for Malaysians to avoid traveling to RI unwarranted'
Agencies, Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur
Indonesia, responding quickly on Monday to a call by Malaysia for
its nationals to avoid traveling to Indonesia because of public
anger over Kuala Lumpur's treatment of illegal Indonesian
workers, said the travel advisory was unwarranted.
"Don't travel (to Indonesia) unless it is necessary,"
Malaysia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Syed Hamid Albar said on
Monday, adding that Malaysians should avoid going to any country
where "sensitivities or emotions run high, with or without
reason".
"I know Indonesia has a lot of attractive places ... but is it
worthwhile to be harassed, to be questioned?" the minister said.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told
The Jakarta Post that "the statement is unwarranted and is hardly
based on an accurate depiction of actual conditions in
Indonesia".
Marty said the Indonesian government had found no proof that
Malaysian nationals in Indonesia were being threatened or
harassed because of the deportation of illegal Indonesian
migrants from Malaysia.
Diplomatic relations between the two neighbors -- both are
founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) -- have been strained by the issue of migrant workers.
Malaysia's decision to impose tough new penalties on illegal
migrants, including a minimum jail sentence of six months and up
to six strokes of the cane, has been criticized widely by human
rights organizations. If implemented, dozens of Indonesian
workers could be caned.
The Speaker of Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly,
Amien Rais, called the punishment -- which became effective as of
July 31 -- "inhumane and insulting".
According to media reports, 19 Malaysians were detained by
Indonesian police for six hours for not carrying their passports
while in a hotel lobby in Medan, North Sumatra, last Friday.
"The group was only released after being asked to pay the
equivalent of about US$20 each, "as a sincere contribution to the
Indonesian police", the Malaysian Bernama news agency said.
Many see the incident as retaliation by the Indonesian side, a
suspicion that was brushed aside by North Sumatra Governor T.
Rizal Nurdin on Monday.
"It is standard procedure to check up on foreigners,
especially when they do not have any identification papers with
them," he said
Marty said the incident in Medan was "isolated and unrelated
to the issue of migrant workers".
"The two governments have addressed the migrant worker problem
and have mutually agreed to find a settlement that satisfies both
sides, and that is the actual situation," he remarked.
Syed Hamid also criticized the Indonesian media, saying they
were attempting to create a rift between the two governments and
were "instigating feelings of anger and hatred toward Malaysia".
"Once the fire of hatred is fanned, it is very difficult to
put out," he said.
A rift would be "no good for both countries", he said, adding
that Malaysia had contributed to "improving the quality of life
for Indonesians" by providing job opportunities.
Illegal Indonesian migrants account for 70 percent of
Malaysia's construction industry's 500,000 foreign workers,
according to the Master Builders Association of Malaysia.
Separately on Monday, dozens of people from Laskar Merah Putih
staged a protest in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta,
toppling the main gate of the compound.
About 40 demonstrators chanted slogans and set fire to a
Malaysian flag, in addition to tearing down the gate.
Police stopped the protesters from entering the grounds, and
representatives of the group later handed over a letter of
protest to an embassy official.
The letter demanded that no Indonesian illegal workers in
Malaysia be caned.
It also threatened to open a "Crush Malaysia" front similar to
the one founding president Sukarno provoked during his military
confrontation with Malaysia in the mid-1960s.