S. Korea urged not to expel RI workers

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

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Italy revokes travel warning
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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

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Terrorism-investigation-
U.S. praises Indonesian police
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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-donation-reform
Japan gives US$4m for govt reforms
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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