JAKARTA: At least 10 potential migrant workers reported a work agency to the Jakarta Police on Tuesday because they believed they had been deceived.

The workers' demanded the company reimburse them for failing to send them overseas for employment after more than a year of waiting. The company last week agreed to their demands, but subsequently the director of the PRD work agency went missing yesterday.

At least 100 workers were said to be registered with the company.

"We tried to contact him couldn't get in touch. His wife said she did not know anything about her husband's dealings when we called her. She said her husband was looking for the money to pay us. But if he is, why doesn't he pick up the phone?" Widi Widja, one of the workers, said.

"We visited their home in Kebon Jeruk last night but found that it was empty. We were told they left yesterday afternoon," she said.

She said she had paid Rp 15 million (US$1,500), half of the future total costs, to the agency August last year and had been waiting ever since.

"Some even paid the full price of Rp 30 million," she said.

Abdul Rohman, the representing lawyer from the Indonesian Legal Assistance Association, said they planned to approach the work agency's parent office tomorrow. Earlier, they reported the case to the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Overseas Laborers. --JP

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