Malaysia Keeps Deporting Indonesian Workers

Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia (News Today) - Due to their illegal status, the Malaysian government deported 266 Indonesian migrant workers this week, a local government official said. They were deported from the Malaysian Port of Pasir Gudang to Sri Bintang Pura Port on Friday and Saturday, Chief of Tanjungpinang’s Troubled Migrant Workers Task Force Said Parman said.

Speaking to newsmen here Saturday, Parman said the deportees consisted of 125 men and 141 women, as well as two male babies. The Malaysian authorities deported those Indonesians because they had no legal working permits. Before their deportation, they were arrested and sent to jail in the neighboring country, he said.

"They have no valid working permits in Malaysia. That is why, they are deported," said Said Parman, who is also head of Tanjungpinang city’s workforce and social welfare office.

The deportees were temporarily sheltered at a compound at Transita Street here before being transported to their respective hometowns, he said. During the fasting month of Ramadan, Malaysia had also sent several thousands of Indonesian migrant workers home through Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands Province, he said.

The deportation was stopped by the Malaysian authorities a few days before the end of Ramadan, he said. They came from various parts of Indonesia. For those coming from eastern Indonesia, they returned to their hometowns by passenger ships from Kijang Port in Bintan Island.

For those residing in cities in Sumatra Island, they chose Dumai Express boat, which departed from Tanjungpinang Port every morning, Said Parman said. He said more than 220,000 Indonesian migrant workers had been deported by Malaysia from 2003 through the first semester of 2010.

Besides Tanjungpinang, troubled Indonesian workers were also deported through East Kalimantan. In the aftermath of the 13 August incident that made the two countries’ bilateral relations soured, Malaysia had deported 144 Indonesian migrant workers through the port of Tunon Taka, Nunukan district, East Kalimantan Province.

Chief of Nunukan district’s port security Adjunct Commissioner Benny Catur Waluyo said the deported migrant workers arrived in the East Kalimantan port of Tunon Taka on August 26. Among the deportees were 26 women and four children, he said adding that the deportation had nothing to do with the two countries’ strained relationship.

"They were deported because they had no legal working documents and passports. This is only a routine deportation," he said. Indonesia and Malaysia’s bilateral ties had once been affected by the trespassing of a Malaysian police boat on Indonesian waters on August 13.

The Malaysian marine police also arrested three Indonesian officers who were escorting some fishing boats belonging to seven Malaysian fishermen who were caught red handed while poaching in Tanjung Berakit waters, Riau Islands Province. Malaysia is one of the main destinations of Indonesian job seekers.

In the neighboring country, more than a million Indonesians are working in such sectors as construction projects and plantations. The Indonesian workers in Malaysia are not always treated humanely. Instead, some have reportedly been treated badly, not paid, and even become victims of human trafficking.

Source : kompas

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