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.