Navy gears up for massive evacuation

Navy gears up for massive evacuation

JAKARTA (JP): The Navy is preparing warships to bring home
Indonesian workers from Malaysia and help transport travelers in
Indonesia as the busy Idul Fitri holidays approach.

Navy Chief Adm. Arief Kushariadi said the navy if needed will
commit their warships to take part in repatriation of Indonesian
workers from Malaysia.

"We are always ready to bring the migrant workers back. The
ships needed to transport them here are always available. We are
still waiting for the result of the negotiation between the
Indonesian and Malaysian governments," he said without specifying
which ships would be used.

Navy warships had recently succeeded in sailing back 5,000
illegal Indonesian workers, most of them come from Java island,
from Malaysia in an Armed Forces operation.

Meanwhile, a press officer at the Indonesian embassy in Kuala
Lumpur, Nawawi Hasbi, told The Jakarta Post that the embassy has
not made special preparation for the possible repatriation since
there has been no formal notification from the Indonesian
government.

"The Malaysians haven't formally informed us yet about their
plan to send home a million of foreign workers in the country,
including Indonesian workers," Nawawi said.

Nawawi said the latest data showed that there were currently
about 600,000 Indonesians legally working in Malaysia. He could
not give the number of Indonesians working illegally.

"We are still wondering whether the Malaysian government meant
the illegal ones, or the legal ones. But, from the (local)
television news we think it may be the legal ones," he added.

Malaysian Deputy Minister of Interior Mohd. Tajol Rosli
Ghazali announced on Friday that the government planned to send
back a million migrant workers to their countries.

The step was taken in line with the government's policy to
reduce the use of migrant workers in industries and to provide
jobs for local fresh graduates. The policy was ruled out as a way
to escape from the monetary crisis.

Antara quoted Tajol as saying that the government encouraged
the workers, whose working permits or contracts had expired, to
come home by their own initiatives and any return to the country
is officially prohibited.

He said the remaining workers whose permits are still valid
would be transferred to export oriented industries such as
agriculture and manufacture.

Record from the Malaysian Immigration Department showed that
the country currently hires two million migrant workers.

Of the 2 million, 1.2 million came from various Asian
countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Myanmar,
Nigeria and the Philippine to earn their living.

Another 800,000 migrant workers were reported to have come
illegally and worked in Malaysia. Indonesian fills the majority
of the amount, but the exact number was not available. (09/aan)