President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had an hour-long meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard on 26 June to settle any misunderstanding on the issue of separatism in Indonesia. After the talks, Yudhoyono told reporters that Howard had assured him that Australia, as a matter of principle, does not support separatism and secessionist movements in Indonesia and would not want such activities conducted within its territory. Prime Minister John Howard also told a press conference that Australia recognizes and supports Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua. Howard had originally vowed to pass a law making it harder for Papuans to seek asylum in Australia but a backbench revolt forced him to delay the legislation. Hence the matter was not taken up in the talks.
The Atambua immigration office deported seven East Timorese through the Mota-ain border gate on 23 June for failing to follow proper immigration procedures. The East Timorese have allegedly entered Indonesia to visit relatives in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. Earlier the immigration office also deported four other East Timorese for a similar offense. Meanwhile, Col. Noch Bola, commander of the Wirasakti Regional Military Command, declared that Indonesia would not open its border gate for any East Timorese wishing to enter West Timor. The border gate is for the exclusive use of Indonesians and foreigners who have valid travel documents, the commander added.
A study on the patterns of abuse committed on Indonesian domestic workers conducted by the Foreign Ministry and other concerned agencies revealed three general types of maltreatment – physical abuse, non-payment of wages and sexual harassment. According to the study, in Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, physical abuse of Indonesian domestic workers was more common among employers of Chinese origin. The study also found that employers who withhold payment of Indonesian domestic workers’ wages tend to be those of Malay origin while sexual harassment mainly came from employers of Indian origin.
Measures to protect Indonesian domestic workers
As part of efforts to prevent the abuse of Indonesian domestic workers in the Middle East and other countries, representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Manpower and Employment and UN-mandated labor organizations started visiting countries that host many domestic workers to monitor any possible violations. The Foreign Ministry has also created a special directorate tasked to undertake various projects that seek to improve the welfare of overseas Indonesian workers, including the conduct of appropriate training courses to hone or upgrade skills.
The implementation of the new biometric passport system since 27 February this year has improved detection of fraudulent travel documents. According to immigration officials the system has so far detected some 1,800 cases of fraudulent passports. From June 12 to 16 alone, officials also discovered 181 attempts to duplicate passports, by changing either the names or the photos on the travel document. To date, more than 700,000 Indonesian citizens have already availed of the new biometric passports.
Sources: “Authorities undertake studies into harassments faced by maids," The Peninsula, 17 June 2006; “Jakarta takes steps to check Indonesians’ abuse abroad," The Peninsula, 18 June 2006; “Atambua immigration again deport E. Timor people," Antara News, 23 June 2006; AFP, “Indonesia says it has Australian pledge on separation," Channel News Asia, 26 June 2006; “New system detects 1,800 fake passports," The Jakarta Post, 29 June 2006