VP blames New Order for workers' plight

Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani Z.B. Simanjuntak, Nunukan, East Kalimantan

Vice President Hamzah Haz denied here on Wednesday that the government was not serious in dealing with the plight of illegal migrant workers, saying the problem was a result of neglect by the New Order regime, even as the death toll among the workers has reached 70.

During the two-and-a-half hour visit, Hamzah also promised to develop the areas bordering Malaysia to reduce the number of those crossing the border to seek employment in the neighboring country.

"For 32 years manpower issues were ignored because labor was not considered a sector that contributed to the country's foreign exchange earnings. It's different to the Philippines, which handled the issue seriously," Hamzah said during a visit to temporary shelters built here for the migrant workers.

Hamzah dismissed as groundless criticism of the government's belated response to what many have said amounts to a national tragedy.

"The Philippine government, facing the same problem, held intensive talks with the Malaysian government in late August, while we started discussing it on Aug. 9," he argued, referring to a meeting between President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad in Bali.

Hamzah further said a ministerial meeting would be held later this month, although he did not give a date.

During the visit Hamzah was accompanied by Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi, East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF, Kuwait Ambassador to Indonesia Jamal Mubarak and several members of the House of Representatives.

Bachtiar Chamsyah was scheduled to spend three days here to get a better understanding of the social problems relating to the migrant workers.

In an effort to curb the number of migrant workers, the government would develop the areas bordering Malaysia, said Hamzah.

"In the past, the government took a security approach in managing the border areas, but in the future we will replace it with an economic approach, meaning that we will focus on increasing the welfare of people living in the border areas," he told reporters before visiting the shelters.

Nunukan regency has been overrun by around 20,000 illegal Indonesian workers who fled Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur put into effect a new immigration law last month. The refugees are a small fraction of the estimated 600,000 Indonesian workers who were forced to return home. Around 80,000 Indonesians were reportedly still stranded in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, on Borneo, as the Aug. 31 deadline for illegal workers to leave Malaysia expired.

Under the new regulations foreign workers without proper work permits face imprisonment or caning.

Citing an example, Hamzah said the opening of oil palm plantations in the regency or the conversion of forests to industrial teak forests could create job opportunities for workers who were otherwise refused entry to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Nunukan reached 70 on Wednesday, up from 67 on Tuesday. The number included 35 workers and their children who had died from various diseases during the May to July period.

Hamzah also blamed the government's manpower policies that placed the fate of workers in the hands of manpower suppliers and individuals, instead of under government responsibility.

Meanwhile, aid for the stranded workers has continued to pour in. The Vice President handed over goods worth Rp 250 million plus Rp 500 million in cash. The Kuwaiti government pledged an emergency hospital unit.

Nunukan has only one three-room, 15-bed public health center.

Hamzah visited the Porsas soccer field, the largest shelter on the island, where about 2,000 deported migrant workers have been living in tents.

Conditions at the shelters are far from humane. Junaidi, 40, who has been on the island for 28 days, told The Jakarta Post that 30 people from the manpower supplier company that had found jobs for all of them had died from disease and malnutrition.

"Many others are receiving medical treatment," said Junaidi.

Sanitation is a serious problem because the only free water source for the workers is the river, which also functions as a giant latrine.