Jakarta – Indonesian migrant workers, non-governmental organizations and students in Malaysia are up in arms over the anticorruption court's ruling that former Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hadi A. Wayarabi, must return the funds he was found guilty of embezzling to the government of Indonesia.
"The money stolen by these public officials through corrupt practices was first collected from migrant workers, not the government. So that money must be returned to the migrant workers because it was the result of their hard work in Malaysia," said Ambar, head of the Bocahe Dewe Indonesian Migrant Workers Union in Selangor, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Migrant Care Malaysia representative Alex Ong Kien Yen and head of the Indonesian Students Union in Malaysia, Muhammad Iqbal, made similar demands.
All the organizations expressed satisfaction at the court's sentencing of Hadi A. Wayarabi and former head of the immigration division, Suparba W. Amiarsa, to two and a half years in prison, but protested the court's decision to make the two corruptors return the money to the government.
Both Yen and Iqbal said because the two former officials imposed a higher fee and then submitted the legal, much lower, fee to the government, embezzling the difference, they had actually stolen from the migrant workers.
Hadi A. Wayarabi and Suparba W. Amiarsa reaped an estimated Rp 15 billion (US$1.58 million) from around 600,000 migrant workers per year during their tenure from 2000 to 2003 at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
"We insist the money be returned to the migrant workers, who have been sweating blood at their jobs in Malaysia. Once the government receives the money, it must allocate it for improving the living conditions of the workers," said Ambar, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Ambar said the union, which currently has 30,000 members, had received many complaints about illegal administration fees imposed by the embassy, but lacked the power to help the workers.
Another former Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdihardjo, was also declared a suspect in similar criminal action by the Corruption Eradication Commission one day after his predecessors were declared guilty by the anti-corruption court.
He allegedly received between RM 30,000 and RM 40,000 (US$9,000 and 12,000) per month in illegal immigration fees between 2004 and 2006.
This practice has been allegedly carried out by Indonesian ambassadors since 1999, when a decree on the immigration fee issued by then ambassador Jacob Dasto opened a loophole.
Iqbal said many luxury cars owned by former embassy officials accused of corruption were still in Kuala Lumpur.
"The government could confiscate the cars, sell them, and allocate the money for the advocacy of migrant workers in Malaysia," he said.
He said the current focus of advocacy was still on domestic workers, while Indonesian workers in other fields, like farming, construction or trade, were rarely considered.
There were an estimated 1.3 million professional Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia in 2007, with only 300,000 of them working in informal sectors that include domestic employment. (lva)