Director-General for Labor Placement Overseas at the Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, I Gusti Made Arka, has expressed concern over the large number of Indonesian irregular migrants not only in Malaysia but in other destination countries as well. There are allegedly 400,000 irregular migrants from Indonesia who are currently in Malaysia, 13,000 in the US, 20,000 in South Korea, 8,000 in Japan and thousands more in Syria, Palestine, Kuwait and Jordan. Many have used tourist, pilgrimage or student visas to enter and then seek work in these countries. Despite government warnings against irregular labor migration, many people still tried to circumvent the law to avoid levies, labor training and tedious procedures. According to Arka, many cases of abuses committed on Indonesian workers overseas were rooted on their irregular status and lack of skills.
David Lin, head of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) in Jakarta, has observed a growing number of Indonesian workers going to Taiwan since the memorandum of understanding on labor cooperation between the two countries was signed in December 2004. According to Lin, just for last month alone, the TETO has issued some 7,355 visas to Indonesian workers, while only 12 were issued last January. Many Taiwanese employers are said to prefer Indonesian workers because they are known to be hardworking and obedient, while Taiwan is a favored destination because of its reputation for high pay and good labor laws.
According to Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Moch. Slamet Hidayat it is difficult for the embassy to control or take action against Indonesian women sex workers in the island state. He said that the staff he sent to the Geylang red light district to determine the number of Indonesian women working there found them to be very evasive. They also come and go in Singapore in such a short period of time that monitoring them was a real problem, Hidayat added. The women, using regular passports, can stay in Singapore for a maximum of 14 days so before that time is up they return to Batam or Tanjung Pinang for a while before returning to Singapore again.
Jakarta police have arrested three Indonesian women on charges of involvement in human trafficking operations. They are also on the lookout for two foreigners, an American and an Irish, in connection with the trafficking of at least 60 babies out of the country in recent years.
According to investigations, the three women would look for pregnant mothers in poor areas and persuade them to give up their babies for adoption, while the American acted as a middleman contacting foreigners interested in adopting children. The Irishman, identified as Joseph Dowse, was among those who adopted an Indonesian baby from the suspects. He had taken the baby to Ireland and had him declared as an Irish citizen in 2001. However, he later abandoned the child in an orphanage when his wife became pregnant. The police investigation on Dowse led them to the discovery that many other children had been sold to foreigners through the suspects.
Sources: Abdul Khalik, “Three arrested for child trafficking," The Jakarta Post, 2 August 2005; Fadli, “Embassy powerless over sex workers," The Jakarta Post, 4 August 2005; Veeramalla Anjaiah, “More Indonesians seek work in Taiwan," The Jakarta Post, 9 August 2005; Ridwan Max Sijabat, “Govt upset over illegally RI workers overseas," The Jakarta Post, 10 August 2005; Bernama, “Indonesia upset over its illegal workers overseas," 10 August 2005