Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Jakarta administration has been criticized for raids aimed at preventing arriving migrants trying their luck in the city.

University of Indonesia public policy analyst Andrinof Chaniago and sociologist Imam Prasodjo said Friday the city administration was violating human rights by conducting the crackdowns.

Each year unskilled migrants, usually arriving alone or accompanying returning relatives after the Idul Fitri break, are caught by the administration in a bid to "prevent them from burdening" the economic hub.

"Population raids obviously violate Indonesian human rights laws and the amended Constitution which guarantees all Indonesians the right to live and to work wherever they choose," Andrinof told The Jakarta Post. "Shamefully, the city administration defies the fact that it's breaching the law," he said.

Andrinof said the administration should let the labor market determine whether to deal with the migrants. "It is the labor market that determines whether unskilled migrants will be hired by businesses or not. Police are there if they commit crimes. The administration should leave these people alone," Andrinof said.

Both men said, based on their analyses, raids were a waste of city budget given that "the legitimacy and effectiveness of population raids is unmistakably questionable". "The policy to evict unemployed migrants is arrogant and lacks knowledge of how best to govern," Andrinof said.

They said the key to overcoming such issues is by taking the matter to a national level and by working hand-in-hand with the government and regional administrations from where the migrants come. "It's only natural for people to migrate when no work is available where they are," Imam said.

Andrinof said the government should "improve the economy in regions where the number of available jobs continually decreases and the average working age increases".

The administration is likely to start raids on Oct. 28. "We have yet to decide on (the date of) the population raids. Perhaps 15 days after Idul Fitri would be suitable," Governor Fauzi Bowo said.

According to the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency the number of new migrants entering Jakarta was 180,356 in 2004, 180,767 in 2005 and 81,850 in 2006. According to the city's Social Welfare and Self-Development Agency, the number of people captured in population raids reached 14,191 in 2005, 17,027 in 2006 and 9,891 as of August this year.