Malaysia to deport illegal workers only: Yusril
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Malaysia will only deport illegal Indonesian workers and will allow legal workers to stay in that country, Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra says.
"(Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad) says not all Indonesian workers will be deported. Only those who do not have proper working permit will be expelled, while those who have valid working permit will be allowed to continue working in the country," Yusril said on Saturday.
He was speaking after a 10-minute informal meeting with Mahathir in Kuala Lumpur, Antara reported.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri sent Yusril to Malaysia over the weekend to seek clarification on Malaysia's previous announcement that it would halve its number of registered Indonesian workers.
The announcement came after Indonesian workers clashed with Malaysian police at a textile factory in Nilau, Negeri Sembilan State on Jan. 17. The unrest broke out when the police tried to detain 16 Indonesian workers for alleged drug abuse.
On Jan. 24, Mahathir said that his government had decided that Indonesian workers would be the last option when recruiting foreign workers.
The announcement drew strong criticism from Indonesian authorities and labor activists, criticizing the Malaysian government for generalizing Indonesian workers as trouble- markers.
Labor activists and non-governmental organizations even went as far as calling on Indonesian workers in Malaysia to launch a massive strike against the decision.
Currently, there are approximately 900,000 Indonesian workers registered in the country, excluding thousands of illegal workers.
Yusril said Mahathir also told him that Malaysia would not allow Indonesian workers to be concentrated in one working area as it is now.
"The consideration is if they are concentrated in one place, they feel strong to violate prevailing laws," Yusril quoted Mahathir as saying.
During the meeting, Yusril conveyed President Megawati Soekarnoputri's wish that relations between Indonesia and Malaysia would not be harmed by the labor dispute.
Yusril also said that Indonesia respected legal measures taken by the Malaysian government, especially against 500 Indonesian workers taking part in the riots, but also expressed hope that "the legal process would be fair".
"We call on the Malaysian government to have a fair legal process against Indonesian workers (involved in the riot)," Yusril said.
Malaysian authorities said last week that more than a dozen Indonesian workers would stand trial soon for participating in a violent protest in central Malaysia after police tried to detain 16 of their co-workers for drug abuse. A total of 129 of the 500 workers who were indirectly involved in the riot were deported to Indonesia.
Yusril said the informal meeting would be followed with a formal meeting between the two countries. On Feb. 18, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda will lead an Indonesian delegation for talks with his Malaysian counterpart Hamid Albar in Kuala Lumpur.
Later on, Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Yacob Nuwa Wea will travel to Malaysia to meet his counterpart, also in Kuala Lumpur.
"The government wants this issue to cool down," Yusril said.
Meanwhile, the Association of Indonesian Workers Recruitment Agencies said on Saturday that 228 Indonesian workers deported by Malaysian authorities had been sent to their respective homes.
The 228 workers came from Aceh, 106 people, Riau, 66, North Sumatra, 45, Lampung, 9, and East Nusa Tenggara, 3.