VP blames New Order for workers' plight

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.