Migrant workers sue President

JAKARTA: A group of migrant workers filed a lawsuit against President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her administration on Monday for their failure to provide assistance to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants expelled from Malaysia last year.

Instead of demanding compensation, the plaintiffs are asking the court to order the government to enact a law on migrant worker protection and to ratify United Nations conventions on migrant workers.

They are also demanding the court order the government to cooperate with the Malaysian government in order to prevent forced repatriation from reoccurring.

"What we want is an improvement in government policies regarding the protection of and the procedures to send migrant workers abroad," said the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Rita Olivia of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.

A total of 53 migrant workers signed the lawsuit on behalf of those expelled from Malaysia after that country imposed a new immigration act. The expelled workers had to travel to the East Kalimantan town of Nunukan, which borders Malaysia, to apply for work documents.

Presiding judge Andi Samsan Nganro adjourned the hearing of the lawsuit until next week. -- JP