asia/world 15/09/04 Migrants' deaths should force policy change: Church official - Undocumented status forces journey across dangerous Malaysian-Indonesian water

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Migrants' deaths should force policy change: Church official

Undocumented status forces journey across dangerous Malaysian-Indonesian waters

• Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta
• Asia
• September 4, 2015

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The deaths of at least 14 Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysian waters should propel Indonesia to provide better care and opportunities for its citizens so that they won't seek work abroad, a Church official said.

"The state must offer job opportunities in places where migrant workers come from so that they will not have to find jobs in other countries," Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, secretary of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant-Itinerant People, said Sept. 4.

Father Siswantoko made his remarks to ucanews.com a day after an overcrowded boat carrying undocumented Indonesian migrant workers sank off Malaysia's coast. At least 14 people were confirmed dead, with rescue workers searching for additional victims, according to a statement by the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia.

Father Siswantoko said he hopes the tragedy will provide momentum to change the way Indonesia processes the return of undocumented migrant workers from neighboring countries. It was ultimately the state's responsibility to care for its citizens, he said.

"If we talk about who takes the responsibility for the incident, it is the state, of course. The state is given a mandate to provide its people with employment," he told ucanews.com.

Indonesian migrants working in Malaysia are often forced to travel across dangerous waters separating the two countries in small, overcrowded boats. Because of their undocumented status, the workers seek informal transportation methods in order to avoid being fined by the Indonesian government or because formal travel is too expensive, said Anis Hidayah of the Jakarta-based Migrant Care, a nongovernmental organization that assists Indonesian migrant workers.

Hidayah called on the governments of both countries to re-eval‎uate protocols governing the return of undocumented migrant workers in order to avoid future tragedies.

Father Siswantoko said the Church lamented the fact that so many Indonesian citizens still seek jobs abroad illegally. "The question is why do they take an illegal procedure, is it because the legal procedure is too difficult and expensive for them?" he asked.

Nusron Wahid, who heads the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, said the agency may struggle identifying all of the victims because of their undocumented status.

"This shows how important it is to work according to a proper procedure. If procedures aren't followed, (we) find it difficult in tracking them down and fulfilling their rights," he said.

"Principally, however, we will help and bring (them) to their families," he said.

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