Bolly (right) gestures while exchanging thoughts with Jahar.
KUCHING: Consul General of Indonesia in Kuching Jahar Gultom has proposed to set up an independent committee to address and solve the issue of illegal Indonesian workers in the state.
The committee, he said, should comprise representatives of the Indonesian Consulate, Sarawak Labour Department, Ministry of Human Resources, the police, local authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“We will invite all the stakeholders of both Indonesia and Malaysia to promote a good working relationship for all. It will be a joint effort to make sure plantation and plywood companies here recruit Indonesians with the proper paper,” he said when paying a courtesy call on the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in the Province of South East Asia, the Most Reverend Datuk Bolly Lapok, at the latter’s residence here yesterday.
Describing the issue on illegal border-crossing as “complex and complicated”, Jahar said the consulate received seven to 12 complaint letters from the immigration and police as well as local companies every day.
He added exploitation occurred when his countrymen entered the state without work permit.
“Many Indonesians are working here, some are legal while the others are illegal. One thing is they can easily cross the border and it is also down to the demand and supply theory.
“The demand is here and the supply is there, so they cross the border without the document. The very first day I was here, I did not know where to start. It is complex,” said the diplomat, who has been posted to Australia, Russia and India before arriving at the city on Nov 26.
To a question, Jahar said the consulate registered some 120,000 Indonesian workers throughout Sarawak, though he acknowledged that a news report had suggested that there were 400,000 of them working in the state.
“As far as our record is concerned, there are 120,000. It has also been estimated there are 1.2 million Indonesian workers throughout Malaysia. We do not know where they are as most of them are working as plantation workers and domestic helpers.”
Meanwhile, Bolly said he welcomed the proposal and would do his best as what the church
was expected of.
“It is an unprecedented proposal, and the church is duty-bound to care for everyone. For the church, these are the people we should reach out to.”