S. Korea urged not to expel RI workers
JAKARTA: Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea urged South Korea on Monday not expel Indonesians working illegally in Korea in the same way Malaysia did.
Speaking to the media after witnessing the signing of an agreement with PT Unilever, the minister said the government had set aside Rp 5.8 billion to repatriate about 55,000 illegal Indonesian workers employed overseas.
Nearly 8,531 of these workers are employed in South Korea and the local government has given them until March 2003 to return to Indonesia or face deportation.
They became illegal workers in South Korea before completing their work contracts.
Last Friday, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayudha said after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Choi Sung Hong, that the Indonesian government had been coordinating closely with South Korea to seek the best solution to the problem of illegal workers.
The government has also contacted South Korean employers to report the presence of illegal Indonesian workers to the Indonesian Embassy.
Wirayudha said the government did not want to see the illegal Indonesian workers in South Korea meet the same fate as their fellows in Malaysia, who were deported. --Antara
;JP;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Italy-warning-revoke Italy revokes travel warning JP/4/SCENE
Italy downgrades travel advisory
JAKARTA: The Italian government has downgraded its travel advisory to visit Indonesia, which it issued following last month's Bali bombing in Legian, Kuta.
Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Francesco M. Greco told the media here on Monday that his government lifted the warning against travel to Indonesia after seeing the seriousness of the Indonesian Police in investigating the Bali bomb case.
Ambassador Greco made the statement after attending the opening of a workshop, which his government coorganized with the Office of the State Minister for Research and Technology. --Antara
;JP;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Terrorism-investigation- U.S. praises Indonesian police JP/4/SCENE
U.S. praises Indonesian police
BANDUNG: United States Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce praised the Indonesian police here on Monday for successfully arresting the alleged mastermind and other suspects in the Bali bombing.
Boyce made the statement when he visited the Bandung-based Institute of Technology (ITB).
The ambassador said his country appreciates the results of the investigation and the arrest of the suspects who were reportedly not only involved in the Bali tragedy but also in a series of bombings in the country.
Police have arrested Amrozi and Imam Samudra for their respective roles in the car bomb explosion that killed nearly 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, in Bali last Oct. 12, about 40 days after the tragedy.
Boyce said the finding of video compact discs on Osama bin Laden at Imam's house in Solo, Central Java, was not solid proof that the bin Laden-led al-Qaeda terrorist network really existed in Indonesia.
Boyce's visit to ITB was in connection with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cooperation in disaster mitigation.
He also visited the Darut Tauhid Islamic boarding school here, led by noted preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar, the academy for Indonesian police and the University of Padjadjaran. --Antara
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Japan donates US$4m to govt fund
JAKARTA: Japan contributed US$4 million to the Indonesian government fund for the Partnership for Governance Reform in the country, the United Nations reported.
"The fund is managed by the United Nations Development Program," the UN press release, made available to Antara here on Monday.
The partnership is a collaborative attempt to bring the government, civil society and private sector together with international development partners to develop coalitions for reform efforts to strengthen governance in Indonesia.
The international community has committed more than US$30 million to the governance fund.
Besides Japan, the governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union have also contributed funds to support this program. --Antara