Extending workers' stay breaches Indonesian laws
Published on: Thursday, August 17, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: An Indonesia diplomat said Malaysia's new foreign worker stipulation of allowing their nationals to work up to 15 years may cause Indonesians in Sabah to lose their nationality.Vice Consul for the Protection of Indonesian Workers and Indonesian Legal Entities Darmawan Purba (pic) said in the "first place, Malaysia cannot regulate Indonesian citizens.He explained that under Indonesian laws, its citizens working abroad must return home every four years.
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"Indonesians can lose their nationality and one of the factors that cause this is that they live outside of the country for five years consecutively," he said.Sabah Immigration Director Musa Sulaiman earlier announced that foreign workers could now extend their service period from 10 to 15 years, with a renewal option every five years.They can also work till 60 if healthy unlike 55 before. Purba however argued that it is not for Sabah to decide their length of service because no matter where his people are, they are still bound by Indonesian laws."I give you an analogy. Imagine my children go to your house to play with yours.
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By evening time, I call them home but they tell me that you've allowed them to stay overnight."But I insist they come home because they're my children. You have no right because I'm the parent.
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For the Indonesian workers abroad, their parent is Indonesia and they're bound by the laws of their country," he said.He added that although Indonesian workers in Sabah are required by law to return home every four years, many have not fulfilled it for various reasons, one of which has to do with the manner they were being employed."Let's say they come into Sabah only with a social visit pass. "They then find employment although they're not allowed to and work for 10 years without ever once returning to Indonesia. In this case, our authorities may think they've got a permanent resident status," said Purba.In relation to this, he proposed that in order to do away with all problems involving the hiring of Indonesian workers is to insist on employers to have a complete job order with their respective suppliers in Indonesia.He is convinced that this process is the best solution to clean up over two decades of mess in the foreign manpower supply chain by ensuring both employers and Indonesian workers are protected from exploitation and violation of their rights, while giving authorities from both countries more control.The job order requirement he said is not actually not new but for some reason his records have shown only 10 per cent out of 750 companies in Sabah have recruited Indonesian workers the legal means.He pointed out that a job order process of recruitment ensures transparency and is less costly."For more than 20 years, problems involving the hiring of Indonesian workers in Sabah continue to be unresolved. "One of the contributing factors is because there's never been clear classifications on who they are," he said.He explained there are three types of workers including expatriates and non-expatriates who work as professionals in various sectors.Problems occur in types two and three who come to Sabah with passports but with the intention to find employment. Similarly he said with those who enter without the document, as well as their children born in Sabah. He said employers can seek the assistance from the Indonesian Consulate on who the legal agents are and the process to prepare a job order. "Without a job order, there'll always be problems affecting all parties. Workers can be repatriated. But they'll come back again. This has been going on for years. To me, this is the best solution that benefits all for," added Purba.Darmawan said the contract maximum is two years, plus an additional one or two years extension, and in total up to four years, adding that Indonesians who work overseas usually return home by the fourth year.He suggested Sabah grant them permanent residency if it insisted on the extension, stating over the last 20 years many Indonesians had overstayed in the state or married locals and have children.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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