Rights body urges NGOs to help overseas workers
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights is urging non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to take concrete steps to help Indonesian workers overseas, including the tens of thousands of illegal migrants currently facing deportation from Malaysia.
Commission members Clementino dos Reis Amaral, B.N. Marbun and Soegiri made the call when they received members of seven NGOs who went to the government-sponsored organization to lament the fate of Indonesian overseas workers.
Among the non-governmental organizations were Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity), the Center for Human Rights Information and Education, the Legal Aid Institute, and Panca Karsa Foundation.
The NGOs called on the rights body to help curb human rights violations against Indonesian workers both at home and abroad. They also urged the ministries of manpower and foreign affairs to probe the deaths of a number of Indonesian female workers in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore over the last three years.
Amaral said: "It is not enough for you to cry for the deceased workers here. You should try to cooperate with provincial administrations seeking ways to help protect workers."
He suggested the NGOs and provincial authorities set up teams to campaign for workers' rights, and to educate prospective migrant workers on the legal procedures for working overseas and on the labor laws that prevail in the receiving countries.
Soegiri recommended that the NGOs help the two above ministries create jobs for illegal workers deported from Malaysia.
Deport
Malaysia plans to deport 10,000 illegal immigrants a month, up from the 3,000 it used to send back. The Sunday Times reported Sunday that Kuala Lumpur made the decision because their detention camps could only accommodate 3,000 at a time.
Malaysia is now deploying navy ships, police speed boats, helicopters and coast guards along its Malacca Strait coast bordering Sumatra to stem the flow of migrants from Indonesia.
An estimated one million Indonesians have migrated illegally to Malaysia to seek jobs because of the prolonged monetary crisis, according to the newspaper.
Indonesia is expected to earn US$871 million from the remittances of Indonesians working overseas, mostly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
The government has projected that an estimated 2.5 million people will be working overseas in 2000, contributing about $12.5 billion in foreign exchange annually.
Marbun said the government should respond to and accommodate complaints about the hardship facing Indonesian workers overseas.
"The government should realize its task is to protect our workers sent abroad because Indonesia annually receives millions of dollars in remittances from exported labor," he said.
The Rembang, Central Java, police precinct foiled yesterday the illegal sending of 122 job seekers overseas by unauthorized labor brokers in the regency. The prospective workers had been sent home to Pati, Juana and Dasem districts.
Rembang police precinct chief Lt. Col. Sukamto said the illegal operation was detected after receiving reports from local people.
"They (the job seekers) were apprehended at the Rembang bus terminal," he said, adding that police had begun to hunt the illegal labor brokers who collected Rp 1 million (US$110) from each of the job seekers. (rms/har)