More RI workers complain of abuse

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

Fajar (not his real name) lies listlessly inside an ambulance, his face showing signs of excruciating pain. Both his legs are limp.

The 25-year-old man is one of 189 illegal migrant workers from Malaysia who reported to the East Java Manpower and Transmigration Office last Sunday.

Fajar appeared subdued after being repatriated and was reluctant to talk to anyone, including manpower officials.

"Fajar said he couldn't walk as a result of being beaten by Malaysian police," Djaelani, head of the office, told The Jakarta Post.

He refused medical treatment when he arrived in Surabaya, and asked to be taken home to Kebonsari village in Kademangan district, Blitar regency.

Fajar was not alone. Suparno (also not his real name), another migrant worker hailing from Banyuwangi regency, also arrived in Surabaya with injuries to both ears, and as a result has hearing problems.

The 30-year-old man was taken to Siti Khodijah Hospital in Sepanjang, Sidoarjo regency, to be examined the moment he arrived at the East Java Manpower Office.

The plight of illegal migrant workers seems never ending. Malaysia will forcefully repatriate another 700,000 Indonesian migrant workers by January next year, 200,000 of them from East Java.

Manpower office records show that 385,000 illegal migrant workers will be repatriated from West Malaysia and 315,000 from East Malaysia.

The migrant workers will be transported to Pasir Gudang Port in Johor, Malaysia, sent by ship Tanjung Pinang in Riau, then to Tanjung Priok in Jakarta or directly to Surabaya. Thereafter, they will be bused to their respective hometowns.

Some migrant workers have claimed that they were physically abused while detained in Malaysia, with a few women saying they were molested.

Djaelani said the manpower office was unable to offer them any legal representation.

"They aren't really migrant workers but people who are a burden to another country. So the social office should handle the problem," he said.

Most of them traveled to Malaysia on a regular passport and had no work permit. Legal migrant workers are issued special passports.

Djaelani said there were official procedures for sending workers abroad, which is through a migrant worker supplier (PJTKI). "For anyone wishing to work abroad, they can apply at one of the 55 branches of PJTKI throughout East Java. Other than that, it is illegal," he said.

Repatriation of 200,000 illegal migrant workers from East Java

1. Sent home by their employers: 80,000

2. Returned home voluntarily: 40,000

3. Deported: 80,000

Places of origin

1. Sampang: 1,069

2. Pamekasan: 871

3. Jember: 622

4. Bangkalan: 533

5. Sumenep: 531

6. Tulungagung: 416

7. Lumajang: 398

8. Banyuwangi: 309

9. Blitar: 300

10. Kediri: 258