Navy ships to bring workers home

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has dispatched three navy vessels to bring illegal Indonesian workers home from Malaysia as the deadline for the imposition of the new Malaysian Immigration Act draw nears.

"We have readied naval ships in Johor (Malaysia) to bring the workers home," Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Monday.

"The ships will take them to Sulawesi before they continue their journeys home with state-owned shipping line PT Pelni at their own expense.".

Separately, Harry Heriawan, Director General for Public Mobility at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said the government had sent three vessels to Johor -- the KRI Teluk Lampung, KRI Kambani and KRI Ende. "The ships will transport the migrants to Pare-pare, South Sulawesi, as most of the workers come from this area."

Malaysia, after a three-month amnesty, is slated to implement the new Immigration Act, which threatens illegal workers with canning, on Thursday.

The neighboring country has decided to cut by half the number of Indonesian migrant workers after a riot broke out at a textile factory in Seramban last January.

Malaysia has also stepped up raids against illegal workers and as the deadline draws near, riot squads are on guard at major exit points in Malaysia.

As the three-month amnesty nears its end, thousands of Indonesians are camped out at Johor state's Stulang Laut jetty, one of the major exit points from the country, hoping to get a ferry home, Agence France-Presse reported.

In the capital Kuala Lumpur, about 150 illegal immigrants, mainly from Indonesia and Myanmar, gathered at the UN refugee agency office to seek asylum ahead of the deadline.

Harry further said that Indonesians made up the bulk of Malaysia's illegal migrant population, with the number reaching up to 480,000 people. By Aug. 10, only 120,000 of them had returned home because of the immediate prospect of the new act coming into effect.

He said that the financial issue was one of the major problems preventing workers from returning to Indonesia as they could not afford to pay for their journeys.

On Monday, Jusuf reiterated the Indonesian government's intention of sending at least some of the deported workers back to Malaysia through proper immigration channels.

"The workers can get their passports sorted out and return to Malaysia legally. But, only some of them will be eligible to return there because of the new quota system," Jusuf said.

Indonesia plans to propose a new Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia that will allow the deported workers to regain their jobs after being trained in Indonesia.

The new deal will be discussed at upcoming high-level talks during the planned informal two-day visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Aug. 7 to Bali.