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Migrant workers: Have we done our part?
Another Indonesian migrant worker has died of torture at the hands of her Malaysian employer
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nother Indonesian migrant worker has died of torture at the hands of her Malaysian employer. The torture and mistreatment that led to the tragic death of Muni Binti Bani is yet another sorry tale that adorns the pages of history of Indonesian overseas workers.
Lured by the dream of improving their lives and those of their loved ones, and driven by their own precarious poverty, our fellow Indonesians brave even such cruel tales to sweat and toil on Malaysian land.
While condemning this inhuman act, committed by a certain Malaysian individual, and demanding Malaysian authorities take whatever measures possible to punish the culprit of such a heinous crime are absolutely important, we must not, however, lose sight of, or forget, our corporate responsibility. It is high time the government and the Indonesian people face up to our responsibilities and get our act together.
The very existence of Indonesian overseas workers in Malaysia, whether they work legally or illegally, can be traced back to the socioeconomic conditions of what I would call "vocational pockets of overseas workers" i.e. regions that are socially and economically challenged such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province.
Just a few weeks ago, the Malaysian authorities sent back hundreds of illegal workers, of whom more than one fifth hail from the province of NTT. This sheer number alone and their province of origin reveal one salient reality: The lack of economic opportunities and/or high unemployment that ultimately results in the high number of illegal workers.
In other words, the rampant poverty and high unemployment rate in the region contribute significantly to the rise in cases of illegal workers. After all, who, in his or her right mind, would bother to go all the way to Malaysia if that person was blissfully content and economically robust at home?
Thus addressing the issue of economic opportunities and improving the socioeconomic conditions of such regions are of paramount importance and must become the priority of the government if we are to face the problem of migrant workers squarely. Furthermore, equally important is for the government and its partners - such as NGOs and other people of goodwill, to have constant education and proper training for the younger generation in the regions, most targeted by often aggressive recruiters.
Poverty and high unemployment among the youth, coupled with their illiteracy often makes them an easy target for unscrupulous recruiters, who often aggressively sell the nobility of working in Malaysia. In most cases, young people will be lured with often unrealistic stories of people who are said to have been successful in Malaysia.
Once the youths have been convinced by such tantalizing but unrealistic stories -no matter how false they are - they will soon pack their belongings and follow blindly wherever their recruiters tell them to go. Hence there were cases wherein a group of young people agreed to be shipped to Malaysia, even when they had no proper documents such as passports and entry visas.
What is, therefore, crucial is for the government agencies to shed light on this innocence among youngsters and eradicate the unjust recruitment practices which are often carried out by no one else but our fellow Indonesians. The government should build partnership with NGOs, civic and religious leaders in this empowering process in order that it may effectively reach the people in far-flung areas of Indonesia.
But what is also important is for these young fellows to know the right procedures or regulations and their fundamental rights as human beings and workers. Thus there is a need to educate our youngsters, particularly in these vocational pockets, about the rules and regulations pertaining to working abroad. This will ensure not only they understand the work and immigration regulations, but also equips them with the knowledge which will make them less vulnerable to unjust recruitment practices.
Furthermore, there is a need for the government to introduce tough regulations that bind recruitment agencies vis-*-vis consistent follow-ups and performance evaluations. The recruitment agency must be made to agree on their responsibilities that include providing their potential recruits with the right information, transparency in their wage policy and practices, and the accountability of the agencies in ensuring the well-being of their recruits, i.e. the migrant workers. This prerequisite in the establishment of a recruitment agency will provide the government with the necessary control of recruitment agencies, for the benefit of the migrant workers.
There have been many cases - in fact, too many already - where our fellow Indonesians have been subject to mistreatment and even death. We may blame others for all of these. But we should also ask ourselves if we have done our best to empower our fellow Indonesians.
The writer is chairman of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) committee of the CICM, an international religious missionary institute.
