Workers recruitment process poor: Legislators

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Malaysia would never have decided to halve the number of Indonesians working in the country if the government had exercised proper control over the worker recruitment process, legislators say.

The poor quality of recruitment had permitted the dispatch of less qualified migrant workers, who were prone to breaking the law in the host country.

Speaking during a joint media conference, the legislators said the problem had resulted from the manpower ministry's shortage of accurate data on the workers and the problems they were facing.

"At several hearings, the manpower ministry was unable to provide valid data. The data from the ministry was different from what we found on the ground," Silvia Ratnawati, deputy chairwoman of Commission VII for manpower affairs, said here on Wednesday.

Silvia, however, stopped short of specifically identifying the data in question.

Apart from criticizing the ministry, legislators also proposed the establishment of a team to inquire into recent incidents involving Indonesian workers in Malaysia.

"We will form a team to get first hand information on these cases. What really happened?" said Ambong, chairman of Commission I for foreign affairs, here on Wednesday.

The joint media conference was held in response to the Malaysian government's stern action against Indonesian workers following rioting in two Malaysian cities last week.

Ambong said that the Indonesian workers, who are usually less educated, might have fallen victim to the poor management of workers' associations.

Despite his regrets, he suggested that the Indonesian government try hard to stop the plan by the Malaysian government to halve the number of Indonesians working in the neighboring country.

Vice President Hamzah Haz and Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea have said they would go to Kuala Lumpur to resolve the issue, but have yet to give a date for their departure

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce chairman Aburizal Bakri supported the plan to negotiate with the Malaysian authorities.

"Where will these workers be employed if they are sent home?" Aburizal asked.

Ambong said that Indonesian government officials and legislators could negotiate with their counterparts in the Malaysian parliament and workers associations, as well as with the workers themselves.

During a recent meeting with foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda and police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, however, the legislators were unable to obtain information on specific plans by the government concerning the manpower issue.

Silvia added that the Malaysia-bound team would consist of about seven legislators, who would try to uncover the root cause of the problems in manpower affairs.

She blamed the government for not paying serious attention to manpower affairs, claiming that most of the data provided by the manpower ministry during a series of hearings was invalid.

As an example, Silvia revealed that many Indonesians had pretended to perform minor pilgrimages in an attempt to get permits to work in Arab Saudi.

"The manpower ministry knew that this was happening only after the violence occurred," she added.

In a statement distributed to the press, Ambong and Silvia, who are members of the Golkar faction, suggested that the government should not comment on the issue.

They suggested that the recruitment of migrant workers should include education about the legal system in the host country.

Silvia also suggested that the government try to find other countries as new destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

According to the Malaysian authorities, there are currently around 900,000 registered Indonesian workers in the neighboring country, but according to manpower ministry data there are only some 568,000 Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's cabinet said Wednesday that housemaids would be exempted from the government's current policy of hiring Indonesians last when choosing foreign workers.

Human resources minister Fong Chan Onn said that many Malaysian families with working mothers relied on Indonesian housemaids, whom he said caused fewer social problems than other Indonesian workers.

Fong said that as of December, there were 155,000 foreign housemaids living in Malaysia. Eighty percent of them were from Indonesia, while the rest were from the Philippines and other countries.

Fong's comments, which came after the weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday, were carried by the Bernama Malaysian national news agency.