SBY stands by unpaid workers
SBY stands by unpaid workers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for equal treatment
before the law for Malaysian employers who failed to pay the
salaries of their Indonesian workers.
"Indonesian illegal workers are facing punishment for their
failure to produce the necessary documents, but the employers who
hired them must be punished as well if they do not pay the
workers properly," the President said on Sunday during a
gathering with farmers in Sukamanah village, Jonggol subdistrict,
Bogor, West Java.
The President said the government was following up complaints
from some illegal workers that their employers failed to pay them
their full salaries.
Thousands of Indonesian illegal workers are reportedly in
hiding in Malaysia, as they wait for their salaries to be paid
while trying to avoid the authorities there cracking down on
illegal migrants.
The President said he would visit Malaysia sometime this week
to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for
talks on illegal workers. Susilo said he would raise his concerns
over unpaid workers during the meeting.
"Of course, my concerns should not be seen as an excuse for
the migrants to work illegally as they must respect the Malaysian
legal system," Susilo said as quoted by Antara.
Earlier, Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Fahmi Idris said the government had hired five Malaysian lawyers
to sue companies in that country that allegedly withheld the
salaries of Indonesian workers. Fahmi is scheduled to meet with
Malaysian home minister Azmi Khalid to discuss the issue.
Malaysian authorities have indefinitely delayed a planned
nationwide raid on illegal workers, saying they needed more time
to prepare for the mass detention and repatriation.
Malaysia had prepared over 500,000 immigration officers,
police personnel and volunteers before delaying the raid.
According to authorities there, a large-scale operation to
arrest illegal migrants will begin as soon as the data is
completed on the number of undocumented immigrants in the
country, mostly from Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
The Malaysian government has extended three times an amnesty
for hundreds of thousands of illegal workers in exchange for
their exit from the country.
Under the amnesty, illegal immigrants are allowed to leave the
country without fear of being charged under immigration laws that
carry stiff penalties, including prison, caning and fines.
The Indonesian government is preparing a "one-roof service" to
help about 400,000 illegal workers obtain the necessary documents
to return legally to Malaysia. Most of these workers are employed
in the construction and plantation sectors in Malaysia.
This service, which will begin sometime in the middle of the
year, will be available at 11 ports that are major embarkation
points for Indonesians going to work in Malaysia.
The government also will introduce an online system to improve
services for Indonesian workers employed abroad.
"We are too dependent on other parties' data regarding
Indonesian workers abroad. We have to manage our own data so we
can monitor our workers wherever they are," I Gusti Made Arka,
the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration's director general of
overseas employment placement, said on Sunday.
Lawsuit -- Page 4