Indonesian Goverment Provides Lawyers to Defend Migrant Workers Overseas by Fardah

   Jakarta, Feb 27, 2012 (ANTARA) - Taking care of around five million migrant workers overseas is not an easy task at all since the government has to spend so much energy, time and money on protecting them.

   But it is merely  the logical consequence of the government's inability to create  enough jobs for its people at home.

   Indonesia is one of the world's largest suppliers of migrant workers overseas. Among the largest recipients are  Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, and South Korea.

   Reports  that the migrant workers are able to send remittances home amounting to a total of around Rp100 trillion annually are encouraging. But not the tragedies that befall quite a number of them such as ill treatment by employers  and legal problems in the countries where they are employed.

         According to the foreign affairs ministry , Indonesian  representative offices abroad had handled a total of 15,766 cases, and until March 2011 they  dealt with 1,482 cases.

         President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when chairing a meeting on the Task Force of Indonesian Migrant Workers on July 1, 2011, said that of the 216 Indonesians facing the death penalty abroad, 70 were involved in drug trafficking and 28  had committed murders.        
    Of the total number of migrant workers currently facing execution after being sentenced to death, 151 are in Malaysia, 43 in Saudi Arabia, 22 in China and two in Singapore.

         Through intensive lobbying, the government  has managed to help set free some of those facing the death penalty abroad, get reduction of their punishment or even pardon, he said, adding that the government will keep on helping them.

        Last year, a total of 34 Indonesian migrant workers were freed from their death sentences, according to data from the foreign ministry.

        "The 34 Indonesian migrant workers who escaped the death sentence consisted of 12 workers in Malaysia , 10 in Saudi Arabia, 10 in China and two in Iran," Director General of Information and Political Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Priatna said in Yogyakarta, early this year.

         To help the workers being threatened by the death penalty overseas, the president has set up a Task Force called "Satgas TKI". The task force is headed by Mahfuth Basyuni (former religious affairs minister), with members consisting of among others Bambang Hendarso Danuri (former national police chief), Muchtar Arifin (former deputy attorney general), and Alwi Shihab (former foreign affairs minister).

         Expressing his shock about the big number of workers facing the death penalty, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Priyo Budi Santoso last year  suggested that the government provide lawyers as early as possible for migrant workers facing legal problems.

            "For the costs of obtaining lawyers who provide  legal advice, the government could propose a budget to the DPR, and we will make sure that the DPR will approve the proposal," he said.

         In accordance with the lawmaker's suggestion, the Task Force for Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (Satgas TKI)  is recruiting qualified lawyers particularly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.  
     The recruitment of  defense counsels demonstrates the government's concern for its citizens overseas, Humphrey Djemat, the Satgas' spokesman, said in Jakarta recently.  
    For Malaysia,  the task force has completed the selection of legal consultants in Sabah, Serawak, and Tawau in Malaysia.

        "For the Indonesian consulate general  in Kuching, Sarawak, we have selected Ranbir S. Sangha, while Mohamed Nazim Datuk Maduarin is for the Kinabalu consulate general in Kinabalu, Sabah, and Rozainah binti Mohamad Said for the Indonesian consulate in Tawau," Djemat said.  
    The lawyers had passed fitness tests conducted by a team consisting of members of the Satgas and officials of the legal and human rights ministry, as well as the foreign affairs ministry.

          In the selection process, the Satgas also considered the lawyers' work records and experiences in dealing with migrant workers' cases.

     "And the most important thing is that they have vision and strong commitment to helping Indonesian nationals, including migrant workers," he said.

         The lawyers will handle legal cases involving Indonesian migrant workers convicted of crimes and facing the death penalty in Malaysia. The number of legal cases involving the death penalty in each of Indonesia's consulate general in Malaysia is five cases.

    They (newly selected lawyers) will also provide advice whenever the consulate general has problems, he said.

    In order to benefit Indonesian citizens and migrant workers in Malaysia, the lawyers will begin working immediately after the signing of the contracts, likely in March.

         Further, a representative of Indonesia's Attorney General's Office  and a Malaysian counterpart are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to assist in the handling of legal cases involving Indonesian workers facing capital punishment in Malaysia.

         In addition to those in Malaysia, the government has also selected lawyers to help migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

         These lawyers must provide legal assistance to arrested Indonesian workers at the earliest stage in the legal process, he said.

         "In the past, they didn't receive legal help from the beginning because we did not hire lawyers to assist them," he said.

         The protection of migrant workers became a topic of discussion by over 330 legislators from 40 member states of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC), when they met in Palembang, South Sumatra, in January 2012.

          In the Seventh Conference of PUIC, the lawmakers issued declarations emphasizing among other things the importance of  the protection of migrant workers.

         The migrant worker protection is a very relevant issue for PUIC because some of its member states such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are recipients of migrant workers from fellow member countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. ***1***
(F001/A/HAJM/16:20/f001)