Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Manpower and Transportation Minister Erman Suparno said Friday the government
had been providing legal assistance to the detained workers, but stressed that
there are limits on what Indonesia can do to help.
<p>"The government cannot interfere in the Malaysian judicial system because
both countries impose harsh sanctions on such criminal acts," Erman told
reporters after signing a memorandum of understanding on good governance with
the Development Finance Comptroller here Friday.</p>
<p>He said 95 percent of the detained workers were Indonesians of Acehnese descent
who were charged with illegal possession of drugs believed to have been brought
from their home villages in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Some have been convicted,
while others are still under police investigation or face capital charges at
federal courts in the neighboring country.</p>
<p>Erman said several Acehnese sentenced to death in drug cases were awaiting
execution after their appeals were rejected by the Malaysian Higher Court.</p>
<p>He declined to reveal how much the government had spent to provide legal assistance
to the workers, but said his office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry had worked
closely to lobby Malaysian authorities to protect the workers’ rights and to
recruit Malaysian lawyers to accompany them during the police investigation
and at court hearings.</p>
<p>In addition, Erman said, several Indonesian migrant workers are on death row
in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in murder cases at their workplaces.</p>
<p>Asked about a planned crackdown on Indonesian illegal workers in Malaysia,
Erman said he had just held talks with the Malaysian home minister to ensure
that Malaysian volunteers will treat undocumented workers humanely.</p>
<p>"Malaysian authorities have agreed to train their volunteers to treat
the illegal workers according to the law and to impose harsh sanctions on any
volunteers beating and robbing the workers during the operation," he said.
He added that his office had also made a similar request of Saudi authorities
in their upcoming raids on some 40,000 undocumented Indonesian migrant workers
in that country.</p>
<p>Erman said further that Malaysia had agreed to issue ID cards for the Indonesian
workers to replace passports that had been kept by their employers, so that
the workers could file complaints with authorities if they were abused at their
workplaces.</p>
<p>"The Malaysian government has also required Malaysian employers to insure
their workers and to comply with the hike in monthly wages to 500 ringgit (US$147)
from the previous 380 ringgit," he said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, workers and activists staged a protest before the Saudi Embassy,
demanding the royal government protect the human rights of undocumented Indonesians
during the raid, slated to start June 1.</p>
<p>They said Saudi authorities should treat the workers humanely and fairly because
their people have taken advantage of the workers.</p>
<p>"The amnesty period should be extended for a few weeks to let the illegals
have adequate time to return back home voluntarily and to let them avoid fines
and the threat of prison," Migrant Care coordinator Anis Hidayah said.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/Archives/ArchivesDet2.asp?FileID=20070526.A07</i>
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