The complicated problems of manpower
By Wahyu Susilo
JAKARTA (JP): Industrialization has spurred inter-state manpower mobility in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos are among countries supplying manpower for job openings in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand.
Economic, cultural and political aspects influence Southeast Asia's manpower migration character. Migrant laborers from Indonesia and the Philippines usually find work in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, the Malay ethnic origin being their common denominator.
Thailand, meanwhile, usually receives laborers of Indochinese ethnic origin from Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Politics plays a significant role in labor migration in Indochina. Long-winded political conflicts in Vietnam have led to labor migration as practiced by the Vietnamese boat people.
In Cambodia, political disputes between Hun Sen and Ranarridh have prompted border crossers to enter Thailand and work as undocumented migrant workers (a more neutral term than illegal workers).
Thailand is also home to thousands of migrant workers from Myanmar, who fled their country when the current military government canceled the outcome of the country's general election won by the Aung San Syu Kyi-led National League of Democracy.
A 1995 report of the United Nations' Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ECOSOC) entitled Recent Trends in International Migration in Asia, says that manpower migration greatly affects industrialization and social changes in Southeast Asia.
Singapore, it says, has derived the greatest advantage from this migration of workers. The country's receipts from migrant workers' taxes are increasing as many more new job opportunities are available in domestic, manufacturing and construction sectors.
Unfortunately, however, migrant workers have not been properly provided with legal protection. The condition in Malaysia is almost the same as that in Singapore. The difference being that in Malaysia domestic and estate sectors absorb the greatest number of migrant workers. Close to 75 percent of migrant workers in the estate sector, however, are undocumented.
Ironically, the problem of migrant workers does not usually receive high priority on the agenda of regional fora such as the Organization of Islamic Conference, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
These regional fora lay greater stress on economic interests rather than on efforts to forge regional inter-community solidarity. As a regional forum in Southeast Asia, ASEAN prioritizes the economic and political aspects benefiting capitalists and political power holders over efforts to nurture interests of people in the region.
In the economic sector, ASEAN has not only given birth to the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry but has also bolstered the Sijori (Singapore-Johor-Riau) triangle economic region.
In the political arena, ASEAN has blindly thrown its support behind the military regime in Myanmar, which is the target of international condemnation owing to its repression of the popular democratic movement of the Myanmar people.
On the other hand, however, ASEAN has yet to pay attention to the fate of the common people in its member countries. Migrant workers are the representation of the common people being marginalized in the process of the region's economic growth.
After more than 20 years of existence, ASEAN has not even once focused its attention on labor migration, a phenomenon which often initiates constraint in diplomatic relations among ASEAN member countries.
The death sentence passed in Singapore's court on Flor Contemplacion, a migrant worker from the Philippines, strained diplomatic relations between the two countries. Indonesia and Malaysia have undergone similar tensions with border crossing of undocumented workers from Indonesia to Malaysia.
As an ASEAN member country and worker supplier, Indonesia must insist that ASEAN prioritize problems of labor migration involving ASEAN member countries.
Many migrant workers from Indonesia employed in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore have fallen victim to swindling, torture and sexual harassment and abuse leading to their incarceration, permanent and physical disability and even death.
Data from the Women's Solidarity non-governmental organization reveals the huge number of workers who have died or received violent treatment in Southeast Asia (see Table).
Until now no structural efforts have been made to protect the rights of Indonesian migrant workers.
As a matter of fact, people's solidarity has been forged in dealing with problems related to migrant workers in Southeast Asia.
Take for example the imprisonment in Malaysia of an Indonesian undocumented migrant worker. In conjunction with this, Tenaganita (a Malaysian NGO) drew up a report on human rights violations committed by Malaysian officials against migrant workers.
As a result, Irene Fernandez, a member of the Tenaganita governing board, was brought to court and charged with spreading false reports.
In another case a woman migrant worker, Hartati, from Indonesia, was tortured by her Singaporean employer. The Singaporean people responded with anger and condemned the employer and the recruiting agency, a manifestation of their concern with, and sympathy for, Hartati and her plight.
This response indicates universal solidarity with respect to the sufferings sustained by Indonesian migrant workers. Therefore, it is important to continue forging and nurturing popular solidarity in Southeast Asia and to press ASEAN to seriously handle problems related to migrant workers in this particular region.
The writer is an alumnus of the history department, School of Letters, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta and works as a staffer at the Advocacy Division of Solidaritas Perempuan, Jakarta.
Table: Cases involving Indonesian migrant workers in Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam) between 1991 and 1997
Case type Number of Workers Number of Workers
with Clear Identity without Identity
----------------------------------------------------------
Death 31 people 470 people
Violence 10 people 481,043 people
Undocumented 28 people 1,618,685 people
Source: Database of Solidaritas Perempuan, 1997