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Jakarta Post

12 Huawei foreign workers face deportation

Following a raid at the Indonesian branch of Asian information and technology giant Huawei Technologies, the Law and Human Rights Ministry has said that 12 foreign workers in the company could face deportation if proven to be in the country illegally

Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, December 2, 2015

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12 Huawei foreign workers face deportation

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ollowing a raid at the Indonesian branch of Asian information and technology giant Huawei Technologies, the Law and Human Rights Ministry has said that 12 foreign workers in the company could face deportation if proven to be in the country illegally.

The ministry'€™s director of investigation and prosecution under the immigration directorate general, Yurod Saleh, told The Jakarta Post that the 12 workers of Huawei Indonesia had yet to be detained, pending intensive probes to locate their immigration documents by the South Jakarta Immigration Office.

'€œWe conducted a supervisory raid on foreigners at the Huawei Indonesia headquarters based on reports from the public claiming that there were foreign workers there. We discovered that there were 32 foreign workers there, 12 of whom could not show proper immigration or visitation documents,'€ he said on Tuesday.

The 12 foreign workers included nine from China, while the rest were from Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines.

'€œWe suspect that they are here on visitation visas,'€ Yurod said, adding that Huawei Indonesia executives would also be summoned.

Yurod said the ministry suspected that the 12 foreign workers had violated Article 116 of Law No. 6/2011 on immigration, which stipulates that foreigners who do not fulfill immigration obligations could face a maximum jail sentence of three months or a fine of Rp 25 million (US$ 1800).

'€œIf we find at least two pieces of evidence that show they are staying [in Indonesia] illegally then we will most likely detain and deport them,'€ he said.

When asked whether the Law and Human Rights Ministry would request that the Manpower Ministry impose harsh sanctions on Huawei Indonesia, Yurod emphasized that the government could not act until it had proven that the 12 foreigners were indeed living and working illegally.

'€œRight now we are cooperating with the Manpower Ministry to find out if the company already has the permits [to employ foreigners] or whether a request for such a permit had been processed completely. If neither has occurred then we will coordinate with the Manpower Ministry to press sanctions [against Huawei],'€ he said.

The Manpower Ministry'€™s director general of manpower development, supervision and K3 (safety precautions), Muji Handaya, told the Post that the issue at hand was with the workers'€™ lack of Temporary Stay Permits (KITAS), not whether they were permitted to work in the country.

However, he said that the ministry would still investigate whether Huawei Indonesia had an expatriate employment permit (IMTA), which is required for companies who hire foreign nationals to work for them for more than a month.

'€œWe will absolutely press for firm sanctions on Huawei Indonesia [if it does not have an IMTA]. The Manpower Ministry is able to press administrative sanctions, in the form of a reprimand, and legal sanctions, which would be investigated by legal enforcement,'€ he said.

Article 185 of Law No. 13/2003 on manpower stipulates that anyone found in violation of Article 42 of the same law by employing foreigners without a permit could face a maximum prison sentence of four years and a fine of Rp 100 million.

Huawei Indonesia senior corporate communication manager Yunny Christine said that the company was committed to cooperating with authorities.

'€œHuawei Indonesia will fully cooperate with the authorities and will follow through with the investigation and ensure that all the manpower at Huawei Indonesia has fulfilled immigration regulations,'€ she said, as reported by kompas.com.
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