PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian authorities should go after employers who hire illegal migrant workers, says Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono.
“The fact that they are here is due to Malaysians employing them, although the Immigration Act stipulates that hiring undocumented workers is against the law.
“Where there are illegal workers, there must be illegal employers as well. Both of them breached the law, and both must be punished accordingly.
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“It is employers who are responsible for getting the permit for their workers. It’s unfair to put the blame only on one side.
“I have also raised this unjust treatment to the Chief Justice for her consideration,” he told The Star yesterday when asked to comment on the recent raid by several government agencies at an illegal settlement in Nilai Springs, which saw 67 Indonesians without valid travel documents being detained.
The detainees – 31 adults and 36 children – ranged from two months to 72 years.
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Hermono questioned what happened to the employers who hired the adults.
“Some haven’t even received their salary. Why don’t the employers who hired them be questioned? Why is the focus only on the workers’ side?” he asked.
He also cleared up allegations that the Indonesian Embassy was helping the illegal migrants by issuing them with stay permits so they could remain in the country.
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According to Jakarta-based Migrant Care, the foreigners who were detained in the raid had been issued temporary visit passes by the Indonesian authorities and the passes were valid for one year.
In response to the statement by Migrant Care, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said in a statement on Wednesday that foreign embassies in Malaysia do not have the authority to issue any form of pass or document for their citizens to reside in the country.
Hermono said what the embassy issued was a travel document in lieu of a passport, which was Surat Perjalanan Laksana Passport (SPLP).
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“This SPLP document is to facilitate the workers and their families’ return home, and it can be used within one year.
“It has nothing to do with a stay permit.
“If we wanted them to stay longer, we could have given them passports valid for 10 years instead of the SPLP, which are valid for only a year,” said Hermono.
On why the embassy supplied the children’s learning centre at the illegal settlement with Indonesian curriculum, he said this was so that the children could be taught the Indonesian syllabus and be able to continue their studies in Indonesian schools once they return home.
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“We did this on the grounds that, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, children have the right to education, and Indonesia and Malaysia are parties to those declarations,” he said.
As to whether the detainees, who are currently under custody at the immigration depot, have received consular assistance, Hermono said embassy staff had visited them to give them some food and clothes, while those without travel documents with them had been provided with replacements.
The Immigration Department has also been requested to deport them as soon as possible, with the Indonesian Embassy paying the costs, said Hermono, adding that there are children who need special attention.
He also reiterated his call for fairness on the issue.
“What we need is fair treatment, not a special one. They are human beings too,” he said.
