Malaysian authorities unfair, inhumane: Deported workers

Malaysian authorities unfair, inhumane: Deported workers

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Tanjungpinang

Deported Indonesian workers have condemned the Malaysian
authorities for what they called unfair and inhumane treatment.

They stressed that illegal Indonesian migrants were not
"animals," but instead human beings who should be allowed lawful
treatment in accordance with basic principles of human rights.

Rizal, 33, from Bengkalis, said that he detained at a camp in
Johar Baru in the middle of last month after he, along with eight
other Indonesian co-workers, was taken by force from a
construction site by Malaysian police.

"I don't know how they knew where our employment was. They
took us, one by one, into the back of a pick-up truck by force,
and then put us in a detention camp for many days before being
deported by ship," he said after stepping off a Malaysian ship in
the Sri Bintan Pura seaport, Tanjungpinang, on Wednesday.

While carrying a bag containing eight pieces of clothing,
Rizal said that the Malaysian police -- who referred to the
Indonesian workers as Indons -- allowed them no opportunities to
defend themselves against deportation unless they produced a
passport and proper working papers on the spot.

"Of course, I had no official documents to work there, but the
Malaysian police cannot treat us like animals and throw us into a
detention camp where we were beaten for violating the rules," he
said.

Rizal, one of 3,510 workers who were deported over the last
two months for not having legal working papers, were deported
following a riot at a detention camp inhabited by Indonesian job-
seekers in the first week of January.

He said that he planned go back to his home village in
Bengkalis Island, Riau, to marry his fiancee, and resume his
previous work as a fisherman.

He said that he was underpaid, at 500 Malaysian ringgit per
month, at the construction project, since he lacked legal
documents. But managed to save M$12,000 after working for
two-and-a-half years on other such projects in Malaysia.

Mariani, 24, from Palembang, South Sumatra, offered similar
experiences, and said that the Malaysian police showed no
tolerance for illegal workers -- especially ones from Indonesia
-- due to the recent riots in the states of Johar Baru, and
Negeri Sembilan.

"I have no objection to being deported, but they should treat
us humanely and fairly," she said. "They should not treat
brutally those not involved in the riots -- let them impose
penalties against workers involved in the riots, but they should
not act out excessively as if all Indonesian workers were
involved in the riots," she said.

Mariani, who left her husband and their two children in
Palembang, went to work in Malaysia in 1999 because his wife was
unemployed.

In Johar Baru, she worked in a bakery with a monthly salary
of M$500. She said that she was underpaid because she was
employed and lacked a working visa, having entered the country
through Batam illegally.

Mariani said that she would go straight back home to apply a
for a working visa to return to Johar Baru.

"My employer promised to pay me a standard salary if I came
back with a passport and working visa," she said.

Following the recent riots involving Indonesian workers, the
Malaysian government has cracked down on illegal workers --
especially those from Indonesia -- while imposing stiffer
penalties for Malaysians who employed illegal workers.