Residents suspicious of migrant workers

Fadli ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Batam   |  Sat, 05/31/2008 12:08 PM  |  The Archipelago

Suspicious residents in the densely populated area of Nusa Batam in Batu Aji, Batam, recently reported the presence of foreigners staying in their area, says a local police chief.

Sagulung Police chief First Insp. Suharjono told The Jakarta Post on Friday that police received reports from residents who were suspicious of 11 Indian nationals in their locality.

"We later fetched them from their rented house for questioning," Suharjono said.

The immigration stamps in their passports, from Sekupang Port, showed that they were migrant workers who had arrived in Batam from Singapore on May 20.

"They were able to show their work permits. The only problem is that they didn't report their presence to the local neighborhood chief," Suharjono said.

According to Suharjono, immigration law says that anyone providing accomodation to foreigners and not reporting their presence to the police or the local administration within 24 hours of arrival, could face a prison sentence of up to one year, or be fined up to Rp 5 million (approximately US$555).

The Indian citizens stayed previously in a Batam hotel costing Rp 250,000 per day. To save hotel costs their employment agent rented a house for them at Rp 1 million per month, located near their workplace, while employment formalities were completed.

"The employment agency is actually at fault for not reporting their presence to the police. The Indian nationals are also being questioned by the intelligence unit at the Barelang Police station. The media shouldn't have covered and blown up the story because this is a minor problem," Suharjono said.

The intelligence unit declined to comment on the case.

Non-registration of foreign workers is common in Batam, where initial inspections of foreign nationals by the police and immigration authorities are frequent but without clear follow up or enforcement of immigration laws and requirements.

A neighborhood chief in Batu Aji, Jamlus, said many foreigners preferred to stay in modest housing areas, but most did not report their stay to local neighborhood authorities. They also tended to stay separate from their neighbors, thus raising suspicions among residents.

"Most of those staying here are Indians apparently. Their place of work is near, but we don't know whether they are legally or illegally employed," Jamlus said.

The Batam city manpower office has had long-term problems overseeing the presence of migrant workers due to limited staff resources.

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