Political protection for illegal Indonesian workers in MAlaysia

Marsen S. Naga, Jakarta

Malaysia's impending crackdown on Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) confirms the hypothesis that the workers have been victimized, both by the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities.

It is said that the workers, who migrated to Malaysia in the 1980s, have contributed much to the policy there of an ethnic balance between the Malay people and other ethnic groups. It has also been indicated that the Indonesian migrant workers were mobilized to participate in the general election that brought Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rajak, who is of Malay ethnicity, to power.

From the start, migrant workers entering the country have not passed through a comprehensive screening process. If such a process existed, workers with incomplete documentation, or those with only tourist visas, would be refused entry, or at least receive a warning.

Such lax conditions at entry points for migrant workers to Malaysia could also be related to the fact that Malaysia's economy benefits from the availability of cheap labor. Malaysian authorities will only set about deporting foreign workers when the number of them is so high that concerns arise of social instability.

It is, then, a cycle: Weak control at entry points to Malaysia, economic benefits from the exploitation of the cheap labor supply and deportation.

On the other hand, Indonesia has only responded when Malaysia threatens mass deportation, at which time its response is extreme.

Even worse, for several government institutions in Indonesia the deportation of migrant workers from Malaysia is considered a seasonal "project" that is budgeted for every year. The establishment of a repatriation team, legal assistance and emergency centers is really a piecemeal strategy and does not address the roots of the problem.

Deportation is a frightening and dehumanizing experience for the workers, and often a violent one. Thus, it is crucial that they be offered concrete political protection.

One way to do this would be for the workers' paperwork to be processed in Malaysia, preventing violent raids against them. Employers and companies in Malaysia should be made responsible for the legal status of their employees. The workers also deserve this kind of protection as a reward for their efforts, which have long benefited Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the long term, efforts must be made to empower Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia. It cannot be denied that the migration of Indonesian workers to Malaysia will always be high for reasons related to geographical, cultural and language affinities. The most obvious way for them to gain political power is through the formation of associations or a worker's union.

The number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia is incompatible with the diplomatic staff who are supposed to help migrant workers in trouble.

An organized and democratic migrant worker's labor union in Malaysia would be a powerful way to protect their rights. In Hong Kong, the Indonesian Migrant Worker's Union (IMWU) was established for similar reasons.

The IMWU is registered and approved as a trade union in Hong Kong and its members have the right to protection. Now, the IMWU has also been successful in educating the public on migrant worker's rights and protection.

The Indonesian government should negotiate with Malaysia over the possibility of a migrant worker's union there. A prevailing law in Malaysia strongly prohibits the establishment of an association or union of migrant workers. But this law should be challenged as it is against the spirit of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights that clearly states that everyone has the right to be a member of, or to form a trade union for their own protection. As a member of the United Nations, Malaysia should comply with this dictum on human rights.

Finally, only through the empowerment of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia will they cease to be exploited in Malaysia and to suffer from the unresponsiveness of their own government. It is hoped that the Indonesian government takes strategic and diplomatic steps toward this breakthrough.

The writer is a researcher for the Center for Indonesian Migrant Workers (CIMW) in Jakarta.