Laid off workers look abroad

Laid off workers look abroad

SURABAYA: Hundreds of redundant workers across East Java have
sought new jobs abroad in the past few months, an immigration
official said here on Tuesday.

"Applications for passports have reached between 300 and 400
per day in the past few months, mostly coming from people who
lost their jobs in the prolonged economic adversity," Suyono of
the Surabaya immigration office said.

Antara reported on Tuesday that many people were waiting at
the immigration office an hour before it opened at 8 a.m. Most of
them were youths seeking work in Middle East, Hong Kong, Malaysia
and Singapore.

The news agency said the applicants were not put off by the
whopping Rp 300,000 (US$34) demanded by the authorities for an
application. This is almost triple the official rate of Rp
110,000.

"Working abroad will earn me between Rp 3 million and Rp 5
million per month. That's more than enough," Aruman, a migrant
worker hopeful from Sidoarjo, said.