Migrant workers 'not terrorists'

JAKARTA: Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris came out in defense of Indonesians working overseas on Thursday, telling the police the workers were not terrorists but hardworking people eager to help their families.

"It is rash to suspect that all Indonesians employed overseas are terrorists. I would absolutely oppose any plans by the police to raid workers leaving for overseas or returning home. All sides should remember that they go abroad to find jobs to help their families, not to help terrorists," he said.

Fahmi was responding to news that the police planned to monitor workers going abroad and returning home, following reports that an Indonesian worker in Saudi Arabia was acting as a courier to deliver funds to finance terrorists in the southern Philippines.

Fahmi said he would not object if the police took harsh action against any overseas workers found guilty of involvement in terrorism, but said the authorities had to avoid treating all migrant workers as terror suspects.

Separately, the director general of overseas labor placement at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, I Gusti Made Arka, said the Indonesian worker acting as a suspected courier for terrorists had entered Saudi Arabia illegally to work there. --JP