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Indonesia

Indonesia (see also )
Abused domestic worker is homeAn Indonesian domestic worker, Ceriyati Dapin, 33, who fled from her abusive Malaysian employer, was reunited with her family on 22 June. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo said that the government would facilitate her trip back to Malaysia to pursue her legal case. Malaysian police have arrested the employer and charged her with unlawful confinement and causing injury with a dangerous weapon. Following the incident, Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to revise the MOU on migrant workers. Both countries will form a committee to revise the articles to ensure better working conditions for Indonesian workers in Malaysia. Indonesian Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Eman Suparno argued that the provision permitting employers to hold the passports of workers in the informal sector render workers vulnerable and increases their risk of detention during immigration raids. According to data from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, Indonesia deployed some 3.9 million workers, with as many as 1.2 million going to Malaysia. Migrant workers should keep their passportsParticipants in a seminar on human trafficking, organized by the US Embassy, agreed that Indonesian workers abroad are abused because they do not have their passports with them. There are some 1.2 million regular and 500,000 irregular Indonesian workers in Malaysia. Endang Sulistyaningsih, director of promotion at the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers, said that the government asked the Malaysian government to permit Indonesian workers to keep their passports at a renegotiation of the bilateral MOU on migrant workers in Surabaya on 28 and 29 June. Also under discussion are a wage raise, a day off, and basic requirements employers should meet, such as no criminal record and a certain income level. Wahyu Susilo, founder of Migrant Care, said that Malaysia would not be able to meet Indonesia's demand for workers to keep their passports because Malaysia's law stipulates that employers must keep their workers' passport. Indonesians arrested in the USOn 19 June, US immigration authorities arrested 81 irregular immigrants – 76 Indonesians and four Malaysians – at Iridium Industries Inc., a plastics factory in Pennsylvania. Iridium's plant manager, Wayne Migliaccio, said his company uses several recruitment agencies and it is their responsibility to check workers' immigration status. The Indonesian government has demanded access to the Indonesian migrants 76 Indonesians to ensure that they get legal assistance, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo. The workers allegedly overstayed their visas. 3 Indonesians to be deportedThree irregular Indonesian workers, identified as Bambang Heri, Lestari Budiman and Hans Woworuntu, currently detained at the Lackawanna County detention center, Pennsylvania are to be deported. They arrived in the US in 2000 and were arrested in April this year. Another Indonesian, identified as Suratman, is still consulting his lawyer on whether he would accept deportation or try to extend his stay permit in the US. Indonesian in US detention drugged for deportationTwo immigrants, from Indonesia and Senegal, claiming they were forcibly drugged for deportation sued the US Department of Homeland Security. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed the suit, demanding a federal court prohibit authorities from drugging deportees taking commercial flights unless a physician prescribes it is necessary. Raymond Soeoth, a 38-year-old Indonesian, was given the drugs Haldol and Cogentin in December 2004 at a Los Angeles detention center. The organization filed the suit said he had no history of mental illness and was not examined by a doctor before being drugged. Deported migrants maltreated by authorities at home Irregular migrants deported from Malaysia after serving jail terms face maltreatment by authorities at home. Deportees are normally held in temporary shelters before returning home. They complained of being subjected to reprimands and physical abuse by authorities upon arrival in Tanjung Pinang, an entry point of deported migrants since 2004. Several recruitment agents allegedly operate in the temporary shelters in Tanjung Pinang, offering possibilities to return to work in Malaysia. Deportees claimed that authorities ignore the situation and some officers are even paid up to Rp500,000 for providing the agencies with deportees who wish to return to Malaysia. This practice allegedly occurs in other border areas, including Batam and Tanjung Balai Karimun. Ambon needs new inventory of displaced population Regency and municipal administrations in Maluku plan to launch a new inventory of people displaced by the Ambon conflict. There are some 9,755 refugee families, or 48,775 people, according to the Maluku Social Services Office, but this has not been verified. The real number of the displaced is urgently needed in view of the government's decision to stop allocating refugee funds in 2008. The head of Ambon's Social Services Office, Arsyad Namsa, said that many refugees have not yet received the assistance the government promised them eight years ago, i.e., after the conflict broke out in 1999. Namsa said that his office would verify data on the 2,365 families or 11,825 refugees registered with the Ambon municipal administration.
Govt extends VOA to 11 countriesIndonesia has extended the visa on arrival (VOA) facility to 11 more countries and is now considering extending it to an additional 11 countries in a bid to attract more foreign tourists. The number of tourists dropped by 2.61 percent from 5 million in 2005 to 4.87 million in 2006. The 11 countries added on the list are: Algeria, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Panama, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Tunisia. The Directorate General of Immigration said that citizens from a total of 63 countries started enjoying VOA from 28 May. Sources: Abdul Khalik, "RI extends visa facility to lure foreign visitors," The Jakarta Post, 16 June 2007; M. Azis Tunny, "Ambon refugee numbers to be verified," The Jakarta Post, 18 June 2007; Xinhua, "Indonesia, Malaysia to revise labor agreement," People's Daily Online, 22 June 2007; "US immigration to deport three Indonesians," The Jakarta Post, 22 June 2007; "US lawsuit claims immigrants were forcibly drugged for deportation," The Jakarta Post, 22 June 2007; "81 illegals, including from RI arrested at Pennsylvania plant," The Jakarta Post, 22 June 2007; AFP, "Indonesian maid who fled employer reunited with family," Borneo Bulletin, 24 June 2007; "The endless plight of migrant workers," The Jakarta Post, 26 June 2007; AP, "RI demands access to 76 citizens arrested in US raid," The Jakarta Post, 28 June 2007; Abdul Khalik, "RI migrant workers ‘must keep their passports'," The Jakarta Post, 29 June 2007

Source: http://www.smc.org.ph/amn_archive/download.php?news_id=342