Malaysia and RI dishonest on illegal workers issue

Malaysia and RI dishonest on illegal workers issue

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta

Expulsion reflects a feeling of dislike, displeasure,
dissatisfaction, opposition, hate and malice, but is this how
Malaysia feels about Indonesian illegal immigrants?

Not exactly.

Malaysian authorities have begun expelling an estimated 1.2
million illegal migrants -- mostly Indonesian citizens -- who
have been blamed for the increasing crime rate over the last few
years, under an amnesty scheme until Dec. 31. Those going out
from that country during the amnesty period will not be sent to
prison or fined.

Some 400,000 already-recruited uniformed volunteers will be
deployed as of Jan. 1 to crack down on plantations, houses and
construction projects employing illegal workers. They could be
caned, jailed, or fined before being deported by force.

Are Indonesian laborers the problem? Not really. It is evident
that Malaysian people do not hate or dislike Indonesian workers
because they -- Malaysian employers and certain political groups
in particular -- have reaped economic and political advantages
from the presence of these illegal immigrants.

Most rubber and oil palm estates, construction projects and
households have employed -- legally or illegally -- workers from
Indonesia, but not in line with core labor standards. If the mass
deportation goes ahead, these plantations and construction
projects will probably collapse.

Although it has oft been denied, allegations have been rife
that many Indonesian migrants employed in Malaysia were used
during the election to give a landslide victory to the ruling
party under then prime minister Mahathir Muhammad's leadership.

So, why must these illegal migrants be expelled if their
presence is really needed? The answer is very simple: The
election is over. And law enforcement is the most effective and
acceptable way to justify the Malaysian government's move.

But the deportation will not solve the real problem because
both countries have turned a blind eye to the core issue,
although they are aware of it.

History speaks for itself. Harsher sanctions carried out under
the Malaysian Immigration Law, following its amendment in August
2002, were found ineffective in preventing foreigners from
entering the country illegally. Even adversely, the harsher the
sanctions that Malaysia imposed, the more illegal foreign workers
took up posts in the country.

Malaysia had several times legalized illegal immigrants from
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines, and these
precedents encouraged more illegal migrants with the hope that
their status would also eventually be legalized, due to strong
demands from their Malaysian employers.

It would be naive to say that Malaysia and Indonesia -- with a
combined total of more than 42 million underemployed people --
have not learned from similar problems in Europe and the United
States.

Hundreds of thousands of people from Mexico and Cuba have
migrated illegally to the United States to seek jobs. Likewise,
thousands of Africans, Turks and Albanians have been working
illegally in Germany, France, Italy and Britain. But the illegal
migrant issue has never been settled with deportation en masse.

The illegal immigrant issue will likely reemerge in the next
few years because the two countries have not touched the core
problem, which is a matter of market supply and demand, rather
than an issue of illegal migration alone.

Indonesian workers will continue to flood Malaysia, Singapore
and other high-growth neighboring countries, as long as their
home country cannot provide jobs with a better remuneration
system than those countries.

Many Indonesian have gone to Malaysia to seek jobs because of
the high demand for workers there and the oversupply in
Indonesia. Wage levels in Malaysia -- even for migrant workers
employed illegally -- are far higher and more competitive than in
Indonesia.

A housemaid is paid at least 350 ringgit (Rp 822,500) per
month in Malaysia, while the monthly basic salary on plantations
and in construction projects is 500 ringgit (Rp 1.1 million).
Those working on plantations and in construction projects could
earn up to 2,000 ringgit (Rp 4.7 million), depending on their
performance and overtime payment. In Indonesia, a housemaid is
paid only around Rp 300,000 per month, while the highest monthly
minimum wage in Indonesia is almost Rp 700,000.

Indonesians often prefer entering Malaysia illegally because,
while the procedures are complex and quite costly to meet, they
cannot meet the elaborate administrative requirements. Malaysian
employers also often prefer hiring illegal immigrants to
Malaysian workers due to efficiency and the low cost of their
labor.

Illegal workers are usually paid less than the legal basic
salary and are not given transportation and medical allowances.
And their illegal status makes them vulnerable to abuse by their
employers.

But many job seekers have taken the illegal way to work in
Malaysia because, besides being cheaper, they are usually
required to pay around Rp 3 million for job training and
transportation fees in Malaysia and have to wait for two or three
months before their employment.

To help solve the illegal immigrant issue, the two governments
should sit together to design a better system to manage workers'
migration.

Malaysia, for example, should consider giving -- through a
tight selection process -- green cards to foreigners wanting to
work in Malaysia. The green cards could function as identity
cards, passports and certificates.

Under such a system, only green card holders would be allowed
to seek jobs in Malaysia and the Malaysian government would take
harsh actions against illegal immigrants and Malaysians who
employed them.

The Indonesian government should also provide standard job
training programs for jobless high school graduates and dropouts,
to better equip them for seeking jobs overseas.

The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post. He can be
reached at ridwan@thejakartapost.com