Number of illegal workers in Saudi not final

Number of illegal workers in Saudi not final

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief said yesterday
the number of illegal Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia he
reported to President Soeharto last month was not final.

He said the figure differed from that given by the Indonesian
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Zarkowi Soejoeti because they were
collected at different times.

"My figure was obtained when I went to Saudi Arabia on Nov.
5," he said.

Latief said early November that 24,357 illegal workers had
been sent home in a one-month repatriation program. He said there
were about 150,000 illegal Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.

But while Soeharto was on a minor pilgrimage to Mecca, Zarkowi
told the President that the actual number of illegal workers was
only 18,000. He did not say how many have returned, but in a
Kompas report yesterday the number was quoted as 18,000.

It cost the country US$300 to send each worker home. The money
was taken from the state-owned workers insurance company PT
Jamsostek.

Latief said yesterday he would ask the Indonesian defense
attache in Saudi Arabia to check the number again.

"The defense attache can only run a data collection now as he
has been very busy in the past week preparing for President
Soeharto's arrival in Saudi Arabia," he said.

The repatriation operation, involving Garuda airlines and Air
Force planes, was conducted after Saudi Arabia ended a three-
month amnesty and began expelling illegal foreign workers.

Late yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
his office was recounting the number of Indonesian workers
repatriated from Saudi Arabia.

"I don't know why we have different reports on the number of
illegal workers. There were probably mistakes in the counting,"
Alatas said during a break in a hearing with the House of
Representatives. (imn/amd)