Migrant workers 'not terrorists'

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