Jumat, 08 November 2013

GOVT GIVING PROTECTION TO OVERSTAYING WORKERS IN SAUDI ARABIA

 By Andi Abdussalam 
          Jakarta, Nov 8 (Antara) - The Indonesian government will continue to provide services and protection for Indonesian workers who have overstayed their residency permits in Saudi Arabia following the end of the amnesty provided by the Saudi government.
         The assistance to workers will be provided by the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh and the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Jidda. 
    The Saudi government has provided amnesty for workers without valid permits and gave them a chance to attend to their travel documents in lieu of passports (SPLP) until November 3, 2013.

         "Many Indonesians overstaying without permits have not yet completed attending to their SPLP because of complicated procedures at the Saudi Immigration Office. They applied for  legalized documents to go home or to  continue their work in that country," Tatang B Razak, director for Indonesian Citizen Protection Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a written statement.
         Tatang made the statement amid a move by the Saudi government to launch raids on Indonesians working without permits, following the end of the amnesty. According to detiknews online media, on the first day of the raids, about 7,500 Indonesian workers had been apprehended.

 
         Therefore, Migrant Care urged the government to provide protection to thousands of Indonesian workers who have not yet obtained official documents.
          "Migrant Care urges the Indonesian government to prepare to take steps during the raids and deportation period," Migrant Care Executive Director Anis Hidayah was quoted as saying by detiknews on Thursday.
         Anis explained that Indonesian workers needed protection so that they would receive humane treatment during the raids and deportation process.
         Migran Care also urged the Indonesian government to approach Saudi authorities so they would not  indiscriminately enforce the law.
         "So far, Saudi employers who used illegal immigrants have never been given legal sanctions," noted Anis.
         Anis said Migrant Care has seen that some employers expelled their illegal workers following the end of the amnesty, as the Saudi police and immigration officials conducted raids on public locations, such as public transportation stations, shopping centers and beauty shops.
         The waves of raids forced many Indonesian workers to avoid arrest and went to the KJRI for protection. "The KJRI evacuated them from the Falistine bridge to surrender at the Tarhil or to Sumaisyi Immigration detention centers in Jidda," said Anis.
         "On the first day of the raids, about 7,500 Indonesian workers packed the Tarhil detention house," he said.
         According to a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, there are about 101,067 Indonesian workers overstaying without permits in Saudi Arabia. Of the total, 95,262 have applied to the authorities to obtain SPLP documents.
         Up until the amnesty program deadline expired on November 3, 2013,  a total of 17,259 had obtained permits to continue working and 6,257 were given official documents to return to Indonesia.
         According to Tatang, Indonesia is taking various steps to help solve the problem of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.
         "The approaches taken by the Indonesian government included lobbying Saudi officials at the representative office, senior officials, ministerial levels and the state level where the Indonesian President has written to Saudi King Abdullah twice," said Tatang.
         Besides these efforts, the Indonesian government is also doing its best to lobby Saudi authorities so that they would be prepared to legalize Indonesian workers.
         According to Reyna Usman, the director general of manpower and placement, the Indonesian government will attempt to renegotiate with the Saudi government to legalize illegal Indonesian immigrant workers who have overstayed their residency permits.
         "We hope to get a special treatment for Indonesians who have taken part in the amnesty program offered by the Saudi government, despite the fact that the amnesty program has ended," Reyna Usman said.
         On Sunday, the Saudi government ended the amnesty program it had offered to foreigners during the past several months, including Indonesians, who had overstayed their permits.
         "The Saudi government will soon conduct raids on those without permits. Indonesian migrants who are apprehended will be held at immigration detention centers before they are deported," Jumhur Hidayat, the head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI), said on Sunday.
         Jumhur added that based upon information he received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Indonesians who had sought travel documents in lieu of passports (SPLP) totaled 95,262.
         He said of the total, 15,571 had obtained official manpower documents from the Saudi government, while 6,035 others had been given exit permits to return to Indonesia. Of the 6,035, 5,973 had returned to the country.
         Thus, Jumhur said, there are still 73,655 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia who have not yet obtained official manpower documents or exit permits.
         Therefore, Reyna Usman added that the Indonesian government would continue to coordinate with the Saudi government to legalize the status of Indonesian workers.
         "We continue to coordinate with the Saudi government so that illegal Indonesian workers' status could be legalized so that they could remain to work in Saudi Arabia legally," noted Reyna.
         Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar is expected to meet his Saudi counterparts, the Saudi manpower minister and the home affairs minister, to discuss solutions to Indonesian workers overstaying their work permits.
         "We are seeking breakthroughs through diplomatic approaches with the Saudi government on the need to accelerate services at the Saudi Immigration offices so that the handling of Indonesians' documents could be accomplished soon," Reyna said.
         She said that the Indonesian government hoped that Saudi authorities would provide Indonesia with special treatment, apart from deportation and amnesty programs.
         The special treatment is needed because the number of Indonesian workers who take part in the amnesty program exceeds the service capacity of the immigration offices. 
    The ongoing negotiations still concern a memorandum of understanding, which does not bind the two sides.

         But ahead, said Reyna, the government would encourage Saudi Arabia to agree to a more binding agreement on the placement and protection of Indonesian workers, in an effort to avoid the repetition of overstaying cases by Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.***2***

(T.A014/INE/O001)
(EDITED BY INE)

(T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 08-11-2013 14:57

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