Mass deportation inevitable, says Fahmi

Mass deportation inevitable, says Fahmi

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The mass deportation of undocumented Indonesian workers from
Malaysia seems inevitable as over 300,000 of them remain in the
neighboring country, despite Malaysia's pledge to start a massive
crackdown on illegal migrants on March 1.

Over the last two months, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala
Lumpur and the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration have
assisted Malaysian authorities with familiarizing the workers
with the amnesty program, but most workers have declined to
return home.

Manpower minister Fahmi Idris said he found during his recent
visit to numerous workplaces in Malaysia the most common reason
among Indonesian workers for refusing to return home was that
their salaries had been withheld for months, even years, leaving
them penniless. Besides which, they are not certain of finding a
job at home.

"They say they are ready for the massive deportation to show
the world the way they have been mistreated, (but) we cannot use
force to make them leave ... Of the most importance is that the
deportation will be conducted humanely and the Indonesian
government will deploy its transport facilities such as passenger
and Naval ships to bring them home," he told a hearing with House
Commission IX for manpower and transmigration here on Wednesday.

Khairul, one of the House members who visited Malaysia
recently, confirmed that most Indonesian illegal migrants could
not return home because they had not received their salaries.

"Illegal immigrants do not hold any documents and many have
not been paid and, under such circumstances, they have no choice
but to stay in their workplaces," he said.

Fahmi said the Indonesian government could not intervene in
the internal affairs of Malaysia, which has readied 650,000 armed
civilian volunteers, police and immigration officers to crack
down on more than 400,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Indonesians.

He asserted the government had signed several bilateral
agreements and made joint efforts ranging from the recruitment of
workers in the formal and informal sectors to the promotion of
the amnesty program, but no progress had been made due to the
crucial issue of salary payment.

"Many employers have withheld their workers' salaries because,
besides having paid high fees to Indonesian and Malaysian
recruitment agencies, most workers cannot repay their debts to
their employers.

"We have recruited 11 lawyers to sue employers who have
withheld their workers' salaries, but this move seems less
effective (than we hoped) because the workers have no labor
contracts with their employers," he said.

Asked about the government's preparations for the massive
deportation, Fahmi said Indonesia and Malaysia had launched a
one-stop documentation service for illegal immigrants.

"Besides simplifying the mechanism, workers are required to
pay only Rp 2.9 million to obtain the necessary documents and
labor training before their next placement," he said.

The one-stop service was available on Monday in North Sumatra,
Jambi, Riau and West and East Kalimantan; with Jakarta, Central
and East Java, West and East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi to
offer it as of next Monday.

Fahmi is slated to fly to Kuala Lumpur on Friday for bilateral
talks with the relevant Malaysian government officials to ensure
a peaceful and humane deportation process.