Political protection for illegal Indonesian workers in MAlaysia

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.