RI pledges to bring 400,000 illegals home

RI pledges to bring 400,000 illegals home

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan

The Indonesian government has vowed to work hard to bring home
around 400,000 illegal workers remaining in Malaysia, with
Malaysia deciding to extend the amnesty for the third time.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris said on
Wednesday the government would continue disseminating information
on the amnesty's extension and the simplified and free
documentation available in order to persuade illegal immigrants
to return home.

"Besides disseminating free documentation, the government will
deploy transportation facilities to prevent them from being
stranded at Malaysia's exit points. The Malaysian government has
also helped disseminate information on the amnesty program
through employers and requested that they pay their workers'
salaries.

"If workers fail to respond to this positively, then the
(Indonesian) government has no more ideas on how to prevent the
Malaysian authorities from enforcing their harsh immigration
laws," Fahmi told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

Malaysian Home Minister Azmi Khalid officially announced in
Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, that the decision to indefinitely extend
the amnesty was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, based on
a written request from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono.

"It may appear to most Malaysians that we have backtracked but
we must put ourselves in Indonesia's shoes," Azmi was quoted by
AFP as saying.

"Imagine if our country was struck by a huge disaster and
within a month our fellow citizens were treated badly in another
country, how would we feel?"

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra was visiting Kuala Lumpur
apparently to convey Susilo's written request. President Susilo
is slated to visit Malaysia next week for talks with Prime
Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to discuss the planned deportation
and other issues.

Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo said his office
would continue disseminating information on the amnesty extension
in order to get illegal workers back before the extended amnesty
expires.

"We will continue deploying our staff to meet Indonesian
workers employed in remote areas of this country, so that they
can obtain necessary documents to stay and work legally before
the Malaysian authorities launch a major crackdown," he said.

Director General of Labor Export at the Manpower and
Transmigration Ministry I Gede Arke said possible human rights
abuses could be avoided during planned raids and deportations of
illegal workers since the two countries have agreed to tackle the
issue within the spirit of ASEAN.

Indonesia and Malaysia are senior members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"Malaysia will launch raids in stages in line with the
capacity of its 54 immigration camps that can house up to 12,000
illegal immigrants.

"Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab has
prepared transportation facilities such as ships and C-130
Hercules cargo aircraft to transport the illegal migrants," Arke
said.

To avoid any further unemployment problems at home, he said,
the two governments would provide a "one-stop service" to
facilitate the legal return of workers to Malaysia.

"The one-stop service will start to be offered by the middle
of this month at 14 points simultaneously, including Belawan in
North Sumatra, Kuala Tungkal in Jambi, Tanjungpinang in Riau,
Entikong in West Kalimantan and Nunukan in East Kalimantan," he
said.

Meanwhile, chief of the immigration office in Belawan port,
Syamsul Bahri, called on the government to deploy more ships to
Malaysia since thousands of illegal immigrants have been stranded
at several Malaysian ports due to lack of transport facilities to
Indonesia.

He said that only one ferry served the Johor Baru-Belawan
route on Wednesday and that it could transport only 198
passengers.

On Tuesday, some 800 illegal immigrants returned home through
the seaport as four ferries served the route, while more than
1,500 others employed in East Malaysia left for the Nunukan port
to obtain necessary documents.