RI workers' deportations surprise local port officials

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

A total of 1,660 illegal Indonesian workers were deported home by Malaysian authorities between Jan. 11 and Jan. 31 via Belawan port in Medan, North Sumatra, in at least ten batches.

The deportations have astounded the port's immigration authorities as they were made without prior notice from their Malaysian counterparts.

"We only knew about the repatriation of illegal workers once they arrived here," Muriaandi, chief of immigration at Belawan port, told The Jakarta Post.

He was speaking after receiving the latest wave of 287 migrant workers, which included 35 women.

Many of them returned without footwear, wearing just a piece of cloth clinging to their bodies. "We had to leave all of our belongings behind. It was an order by the Malaysian security officers," said Steven, a resident from the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

The arrival of the ill-fated workers from Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra as well as NTT, were also the target of unscrupulous practices by brokers.

To get to Belawan port, immigrant workers were transported aboard two ferries from Malaysia. They were later driven in coaches to a temporary accommodation center in Amplas.

Local immigration officials admitted they did not know how the workers would be repatriated to their hometowns in Medan.

"When the workers arrived in Belawan, a private transport agency, PT Bintang Seribu, came to handle transport arrangements back to their home villages," Muriaandi said.

The Malaysian government said it would send home some 450,000 Indonesian workers following a recent riot there involving Indonesian illegal workers. The move drew criticism from Jakarta.

Some returning immigrants said they had been detained as illegal workers for 15 days at Langkap immigration station in Perak, Malaysia, before being deported to Indonesia.

Alwi, a 44-year old resident from the town of Sumenep on Madura Island, said he had been arrested at his place of work by Malaysian police on Jan. 17 for failing to show a working license.

He said he had obtained a working license to work in Malaysia after paying Rp 3 million. But on his way to the destination, his permit document was seized by local staff in the Tanjung Uban area, Riau.

Since then, Alwi -- a former farmer who had worked in Malaysia for two years -- operated as an illegal worker. He said he was determined to find a job in Malaysia after being persuaded by his friend.

"During my stay in Malaysia, I was forced to move from one place to another in order to escape arrest by local police," he said.

However, he encountered some bad luck on Jan. 17 as the security authorities arrested him while he was at work at an animal husbandry company.

Another illegal worker Susilawati, 21, a resident from the city of Banyuwangi in East Java, shared a similar experience. She admitted that her working license was confiscated by local staff who had accompanied her before she had headed off to Malaysia.

She had left home in order to get a job with a good income. "When I was in Banyuwangi, I was jobless," said Susilawati, a graduate from her town's senior high school.

The deportation of illegal workers, however, did not make other Indonesians cancel their departure to Malaysia in search of better jobs.

Dimyati, a 20-year old from the North Sumatra town of Deli Serdang, was determined to sail to Malaysia along with 29 other Indonesians via Belawan port. They departed hours after the 287 arrived there.

The group of 30 intended to work at PT Son Fuat Plastik in Blang Phat, Johor.

Dimyati, who was accompanied by his parents to the port, said he had actually no wish to go to work in Malaysia after hearing reports that Kuala Lumpur had decided to deport some 450,000 illegal Indonesian workers.

But having been jobless for some time now and having already spent Rp 3 million to obtain a working permit in Malaysia, he did not want to miss a chance. "If we canceled the plan, the money would be considered used up," said Dimyati, who had arranged the license in November last year.

He said he would earn Rp 750,000 per month, including allowances.