Indonesia, Malaysia seek solutions to illegal labor problem

The issue of Indonesian illegal migrant workers (PATI) was the main agenda of the recent meeting between Indonesian Immigration Agency Director Silmy Karim and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.

Indonesia, Malaysia tìm giải pháp cho vấn đề lao động bất hợp pháp

Indonesian workers at a job fair. (Source: AA)

In a statement, Mr Silmy said his visit to the Malaysian Immigration Department headquarters on June 6 was aimed at finding a solution to the PATI issue, allowing them to become legal workers.

Mr. Silmy affirmed that Indonesia is ready to issue passports to illegal workers working in Malaysia and requested the Malaysian Immigration Department to issue temporary work permits until these people have complete documents.

The meeting also discussed efforts to combat human trafficking. According to statistics, there are 450,000 Indonesian workers licensed by the Malaysian government to date, much lower than the 1.5 million Indonesians working in this neighboring country, according to statistics from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

So far, Malaysia has repatriated 11,000 illegal Indonesian workers, while 309 are still in Malaysian Immigration Detention Center.

Before arriving in Malaysia, on June 5, Mr. Silmy inspected the Indonesian Immigration Offices in Pontianak City and Entikong District in West Kalimantan Province; and visited the Tebedu Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex (ICQS) located near the border between Malaysia and Indonesia.

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