Life getting harder for legal migrants in Malaysia

Rusman, The Jakarta Post/Nunukan, East Kalimantan

The Malaysia government's threat to crack down on Indonesian illegal workers has not only affected the illegals, but also Indonesian workers whose status is completely above board.

Some Indonesian workers in Malaysia, who have legal documents to work there, confessed that they felt insecure following the Malaysian government's campaign to crack down on illegals that began in October last year. Others said that they had been harassed by Malaysian police and citizens.

Aisyah, an Indonesian woman in her 40s, said that Malaysian police had clamped down at her work place and neighborhood in Sabah state, after the Malaysian government announced an amnesty for one million Indonesian illegal workers in Malaysia in October last year. The government vowed to crackdown on illegals after the amnesty period ended.

The crackdown was delayed several times because of Indonesian protests. The latest announcement of a crackdown was made several days ago when Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Malaysia. Badawi said that the crackdown would start on March 1.

Despite the extension, Aisyah, who has been a worker at a plantation company for many years in Sabah, said that she felt that she was always being spied upon.

"We always bring our work permits and other documents wherever we go, because Malaysian officials sometimes conduct random checks. We will certainly always bring our documents after March 1 when the real crackdown starts, to avoid arrest," said Aisyah, who was in Nunukan, East Kalimantan, last week to extend her work permit.

Aisyah is one of some 1.47 million Indonesians in Malaysia with legal work permits. They form the backbone of Malaysia's workforce, often doing the menial jobs that Malaysians don't want, such as in plantations. Although their numbers are significant, their lives are largely beyond the coverage of the media.

For Aisyah, the crackdown policy has affected her psychologically. Malaysians often looked down on her after discovering that she is Indonesian.

"I felt as if I was an illegal worker. Sometimes, I want to get angry at my fellow Indonesians who enter the country illegally, but I know it would be unwise. All I can do is suggest that they get legal documents before entering Malaysia for their own sake," she said.

Hardian, 39, a resident of Tarakan in East Kalimantan, who has been living for years in Sabah as a plantation worker, shared the same experience. He has the impression that Malaysian citizens and officials are no longer sympathetic to Indonesians workers, whether legal or illegal, after the Malaysian government started its crackdowns against Indonesian illegal workers in October.

He has found that Malaysian traders often jack up the price of food or basic necessities when they know the buyers are Indonesians. "I get the impression that they are all of the same opinion, that Indonesians are disrupters of the peace in Malaysia," said Hardian.