Labor exporters skeptical of amnesty extension

Labor exporters skeptical of amnesty extension

Ridwan Max Sijabat , The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Malaysia's decision to extend the amnesty for Indonesian illegals
to Dec. 31 will not be effective in encouraging them to return home
if the neighboring country fails to take action against
employers who withhold the migrants' documents and salaries,
labor exporters say.

Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed on Thursday to take
whatever measures were necessary to help the illegals return home
without having to go through complicated procedures.

Yunus Yamani, chairman of the Indonesian Labor Suppliers
Association (Himsataki), said both Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur had
misidentified the core problem as to why most of the illegal
migrants employed in Malaysia had not responded to the amnesty
offer.

"So far, only around 100,000 migrants, some of them legal
ones, have returned home while the remaining 600,000
are unable to as their salaries are being withheld by their
employers and they have been intimidated into not leaving their
workplaces," he said.

According to Yunus, the Indonesian government has to simplify
the complicated procedures for people seeking jobs overseas, cut
the cost of obtaining the necessary documents and punish corrupt
officials and those extorting workers.

"Besides, the government should be proactive in disseminating
information about Malaysia's plan to crack down on the illegals
after the amnesty comes to an end," he said.

The United States-based Human Right Watch recently reported
abuses against 1.2 million illegal migrants in Malaysia, mostly
from Indonesia, in their workplaces by their employers. They are
employed more than eight hours a day and seven days a week, their
salaries are withheld and they are employed without any social
security protection.

Husein Alaydrus, chairman of the Indonesian Labor Exporters
Association (Apjati), said the poor response from illegal
Indonesian migrants to the amnesty would make it difficult for
the Indonesian government during the upcoming negotiations with
Malaysia on the recruitment of migrant workers, as Indonesia
would focus on how to bring the undocumented migrants home.

In observance of the Idul Fitri holiday, Malaysia offered
illegal workers amnesty in exchange for their voluntary exit from
the country. The offer had originally been set to expire on Nov.
14, but Kuala Lumpur agreed to extend it until Dec. 31 due to the
large number of undocumented Indonesian workers in the country.

Following a bilateral meeting with Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Fahmi Idris at the latter's office, Malaysian home
minister Dato Azmi Khalid said his government would give special
treatment to illegal workers who faced problems in leaving his
country and would take resolute action against Malaysian
employers found guilty of withholding their workers' wages.

"We will help workers whose salaries are withheld and those
who are frightened to leave our country. We will call on
employers to let their illegal workers leave the country freely,"
he said.

Azmi, who was accompanied by Director General of Immigration
Dato Jamal Khamdi and several other Malaysian officials, said
further that the Malaysian government would simplify the
application procedures for working visas so as to encourage
foreigners to enter Malaysia legally.

Fahmi said that besides simplifying the official procedures
for taking up work overseas, his ministry in cooperation with the
police and the Navy would crack down on what are locally-known as
tekongs (labor brokers), who smuggled illegal workers into
Malaysia from the Riau archipelago and West and East Kalimantan.

He said the government had begun pilot projects in Jakarta,
Batam (Riau), Nunukan (East Kalimantan), and Mataram (West Nusa
Tenggara), to provide a one-stop-shop for workers seeking the
necessary documents to work overseas.