Migrant workers' woes

Migrant workers' woes

First of all, let us say that we must deplore the recent
rioting by Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, just as we
would deplore violence at home. Moreover, as Foreign Minister
Hassan Wirayuda said, Indonesians working abroad must respect the
laws of the country in which they are guests -- quite fittingly
adding that he hoped that the authorities in Malaysia would not
generalize the issue by treating all Indonesian workers alike.

Understandably, officials in the Malaysian capital have been
quite incensed by this latest incident and were quick to come out
with statements and threats. After all, last Sunday's incident
was not the first involving Indonesian workers in that country.
Only a few days before, some 400 Indonesian migrant workers had
staged a riot at a textile mill in Negeri Sembilan in protest
over the arrest by Malaysian police of a number of their
colleagues accused of the use or possession of drugs. Earlier
still, there have been reports of rioting by people hailing from
Indonesia threatened with deportation.

Viewed in that light, it is perhaps not so very surprising
that officials in Kuala Lumpur, from cabinet ministers up to
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, have stated that migrant workers
from Indonesia would henceforth be placed last on the list of
countries considered eligible for sending workers to Malaysia.

We had better not comment on some of the other remarks
reportedly made either on or off the record by officials and the
media in Malaysia. The threat of losing the Malaysian labor
market has seemed real enough to Jakarta to prompt Manpower
Minister Jacob Nuwawea to apologize to the Malaysian government
for the incident and express his hope that the violence will not
harm Indonesia's presence in the Malaysian labor market.

And therein lies Indonesia's tragedy. This country is too poor
to feed its own people. For decades, Indonesia has been sending
workers abroad for employment in fields ranging from construction
and plantation work to household domestics. As of August 2000,
some 370,000 Indonesians were employed in Middle Eastern
countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, about 260,000 in Malaysia and
some 33,000 in the United Arab Emirates. Many more are
lucratively employed in other countries such as, for example,
Hong Kong. This not only earns the country some much-needed
additional foreign exchange, it also relieves the pressures of
unemployment. According to the latest estimates, about 40 million
Indonesians are currently without employment.

On average it seems correct to say that Indonesians in foreign
employment earn better wages than they would at home. Still, many
Indonesians find it hard living so far from their homes and
families. In addition many migrant workers suffer harsh treatment
from their foreign employers. There is a saying, which is well
known in Indonesia and, we believe, also in Malaysia that there
can be no smoke without a fire, meaning that there is a reason
behind everything.

Going by that truism, perhaps, the Consortium for the Defense
of Indonesian Migrant Workers (KOPBUMI) has called on Malaysian
officials to act with fairness and investigate these latest
incidents for the possibility of police abuse as well. Among
Indonesian workers deported from Malaysia in the past, a KOPBUMI
statement says, most complained of mistreatment during the
process of deportation.

There is one more thing the recent riots in Malaysia have
brought to light, and that is the low esteem that Indonesia
currently enjoys even among its neighbors. It seems to us that
there can be only one answer to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's
threat to blacklist Indonesian workers in the future. That is to
look for markets other than Malaysia for Indonesian workers.
Better still, this nation -- the government, the legislature and
everyone else -- must go all out to improve conditions so that
Indonesians will no longer have to depend on the generosity of
others.