RI embassy always on its toes with illegal workers
RI embassy always on its toes with illegal workers
By Ridwan M. Sijabat
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): The Indonesian embassy in Malaysia is
constantly kept on its toes by the presence of hundreds of
thousands of Indonesian workers in the country.
Their presence demands so much attention that the embassy here
is one of few Indonesian overseas missions staffed with a labor
attache. The problem is further complicated because many are in
the country illegally.
Some 500 Indonesians visit the embassy each day seeking to
make their presence here legal. Some even lack passports and
provisional travel documents which they need in the first step to
becoming legal workers. Some even turned up at the embassy last
Monday, officially a public holiday.
And though Malaysia is cracking down on illegal workers, the
number of illegal workers coming to the embassy has not abated.
Embassy officials estimate that some 200 Indonesians arrive
each day to work illegally in Malaysia. Some get in through
unguarded shores after sailing from Sumatra. Some through the
jungles in Kalimantan bordering Malaysia. Many others come as
legitimate tourists but with the intention of working here.
The embassy says some 600,000 Indonesian workers are
registered and therefore working legally. But it believes that
for every legal Indonesian worker there is another working
illegally.
Abdul Karim, the embassy's labor attache, told The Jakarta
Post on Monday that the inflow of illegal Indonesian workers
continues because the syndicates that organize their departure
and entry do so by bribing government officials in both
countries.
Abdul Karim, who has been posted in Kuala Lumpur since 1992,
noted that the Malaysian government has punished marine police
and immigration office officers who were found to have accepted
bribes. The Malaysian authorities have also jailed and fined
employers for hiring illegal aliens, he said.
The maximum punishment for such an offense is six months
imprisonment and M$10,000 (US$4,200). Illegal workers face the
same maximum punishment in addition to deportation at the
completion of their jail term.
Abdul Karim said some 1,500 Indonesians are currently in
Malaysian correctional institutions, mostly serving time for
working in the country illegally.
Patrols
Malaysian authorities have taken steps to prevent the inflow
of unwanted Indonesian workers by tightening patrols along the
Borneo border and in the Straits of Malacca, Abdul Karim said. In
the last five months alone, more than 10,000 Indonesians were
turned away before they reached Malaysian shores.
Abdul Karim said the embassy has also received reports of
abuse against Indonesians caught working illegally in Malaysia,
"Many were robbed before being deported, others were `sold' to
employment agencies which in turn supplied them to local
employers, particularly plantation owners," he said.
In spite of the grim situation, many Indonesian workers do
benefit from being employed in Malaysia.
Abdul Karim said many Indonesians working legally earn far
above the minimum wage levels set by the Malaysian government,
thanks largely to their skills.
The minimum wage levels are M$320 (US$135) a month for
construction workers, M$300 for plantation workers and M$250 for
those working in the informal sector.
"Many Indonesian workers employed in the construction and
manufacturing sectors are earning between M$1,000 and M$2,000
ringgit a month," Abdul Karim said. Those that have difficulties
are mostly workers who have no particular skills, he added.
Those working legally also enjoy legal protection and
Malaysia's social security program, he said.