Workers will have to pay Rp4m to work in KL
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia and Malaysia have launched a one-stop service that requires Indonesian migrant workers to pay a Rp 3 million (US$320) fee to obtain the necessary documents to work legally in Malaysia.
Director General of Labor Export at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, I Gusti Made Arka, said the two governments had agreed to impose administrative and training costs on all workers wanting to return to Malaysia under the one- stop service program available at five ports across Indonesia.
"With the simplified procedure, workers are required to pay Rp 2,990,000 to cover their placement and protection costs. Each worker will pay a total of Rp 4 million, which includes their transport costs from their home villages to their workplace in Malaysia," he said on Monday.
Arka said that the one-stop service involving relevant government officers from the two countries was available as of Monday in provincial capitals and seaports in North Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.
"The service will be also available as of Feb. 28 in Jakarta, Central and East Java, West and East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi," he added.
Migrant Care, a nongovernmental organization providing advocacy for migrant workers in Malaysia, criticized the one-stop service program saying it was neither effective nor efficient.
"The one-stop service will not be effective in attracting back some 300,000 illegal immigrants in Malaysia to seek the necessary documents because of the high price being charged," said Anis Hidayat, the coordinator of Migrant Care.
She said many workers who had already returned home were also not interested in obtaining the documents because they could not afford to pay the price.
"The government is looking less than serious in dealing with illegal immigrants. It should provide documents to workers free of charge to help them seek jobs in neighboring countries due to its failure to create jobs at home," she added.
Anis estimated that some 300,000 illegal immigrants remained in Malaysia because they had no money to return home as their salaries were being withheld by their employers.
"It is impossible for these workers to come home and obtain documents such as passports and working visas," she said.
Malaysian authorities will start a massive crackdown on illegal immigrants on March 1. The Malaysian government has hired 650,000 civilian volunteers to launch raids on plantations, construction projects and other places employing illegal workers.
After offering a three-month amnesty that ended on Jan. 31, 2005, Malaysia has delayed the raids to allow the Indonesian government time to concentrate on the handling of the earthquake and tsunami disaster that devastated Aceh and North Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004.
Arka said that besides providing the one-stop documentation service, Indonesia and Malaysia have recently agreed on regulations on labor contracts between workers and their employers.
"According to the agreement made recently in Kuala Lumpur, recruitment of workers will be based on job orders that are released by Malaysian employers and approved by the Malaysian home ministry, while employment must be based on labor contracts to be held by Indonesian workers with copies sent to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur," he said.