Stop crackdown on illegal migrant workers: Indonesia

PETALING JAYA: Indonesia will ask Malaysia to stop its crackdown on illegal migrant workers and extend its rehiring programme.
Indonesia's Labour Minister Hanif Dhakiri said dozens of Indonesian illegal migrants have been arrested for failing to follow the rehiring programme, which is Malaysia's policy to address the problem of illegal workers.
The four-and-a-half-month-old programme, which ended on June 30, helped illegal workers get a card so they could be legally employed in Malaysia.
"(The move is necessary) in view of the large number of illegal migrant workers in Malaysia, including those from Indonesia. If the programme is extended, coupled with easy and cheap voluntary repatriation program, then many (illegal migrant workers) will join it," Dhakiri said at the Manpower Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday.
The Indonesian Manpower Ministry will send a team of officers to Kuala Lumpur to discuss its request for the extension of the rehiring program at an informal meeting.
The informal meeting will be a starting point before the two countries hold an official meeting to discuss a wide range of issues, including a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, Indonesia's Netralnews reported.
The minister revealed he would attend the meeting to settle problems faced by an estimated 1.3 million Indonesian illegal migrant workers in Malaysia.