Batam/Samarinda/Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian workers in Malaysia began returning home on Friday, marking the first day of the 17-day amnesty program for illegal workers offered by the Malaysian government.
Boarding ferries, the workers, many who said they had become alienated or disillusioned working in Malaysia, headed to ports on Batam, and in Nunukan island in East Kalimantan.
Not all the workers had entered Malaysia illegally. Of the 230 migrant workers that arrived at the Batam Center port, 94 had gone to Malaysia with legal immigration and working documents.
Data showed 336 Indonesian migrant workers had entered two ports in Batam as of Friday evening, while a similar number entered Tunon Taka seaport in Nunukan, deputy regent Kasmir Foret said.
Upon alighting from the ferries, some workers headed to barracks provided by local government and manpower recruitment agencies (PJTKI), while others headed to cheap hotels before they continued their journeys home.
Under the program, the Malaysian government is encouraging an estimated 1.2 million illegal migrant workers, mostly from Indonesia, to return home until November 14 without punishment ahead of the Idul Fitri celebrations.
The workers, also from the Philippines and China, are part of total estimated 2.4 million migrant workers in Malaysia. All travel fares are paid by the workers.
Raids are planned after the amnesty ends and illegal workers who are caught will be fined and caned by the Malaysian police and then deported.
A similar amnesty was offered to migrants by the Malaysian government two years ago.
Some Indonesian workers said they were delighted they could join the program. "I will not return. The working conditions were terrible and I'm afraid of being whipped if I am caught," said Afsoni, a 21-year-old from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, quoted by Reuters.
Afsoni said he had worked in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, where he was paid 30 Malaysian ringgit (US$7.9) a day and allowed to sleep for just four hours each night.
State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto said the government would offer positions in 17 state-owned enterprises to the returning workers.