Nunukan: An impoverished

Nunukan: An impoverished transit for the hunted

Nunukan has long been a transit center for migrant workers from Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi making the sea crossing to neighboring Malaysia -- either legally or illegally.

In the last month, the regency at the eastern tip of East Kalimantan province has been flooded with deported workers who have doubled Nunukan's population.

The Malaysian government's policy to only allow legal workers to remain in the country forced many Indonesians to the impoverished, three-year-old regency where they hope to gain work permits and return to Malaysia without fear of being hunted down and caned as criminals.

The migrant workers have not only suffered from a lack of water and food, but they have also become victims of those seeking to benefit from their ignorance. The non-stop extortions have worsened their hardship.

(Text by Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)