JAKARTA, Indonesia - To cut down on human trafficking, Malaysian authorities have agreed to an Indonesian request to stop issuing a type of frequently-misused visa in exchange for lifting the moratorium on migrant workers traveling to the country. Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said that Indonesian migrant workers and their agents frequently misuse the “Journey Performed” visas for work purposes.
Misuse of the visa, a type of bridging visa, leaves workers as illegal immigrants, making them vulnerable to threats by human traffickers and unscrupulous employers.
The problem has worsened since Indonesia instigated a ban on sending migrant workers to Malaysia, with tourism visas being used to disguise true intentions.
- Muhaimin said, since the 2009 moratorium, the tendency is for increased misuse of Journey Performed visas as a means to enter Malaysia. This situation is suspected to be one cause of the increasing number of illegal immigrants in Malaysia.
- He added that most Indonesian workers who run into problems in Malaysia had entered the country on ordinary passports and requested a 30-day visa on arrival.
- Initially they claim they are on vacation in Malaysia. But of course there is no holiday, they’re there to work as maids, said Muhaimin.
- Indonesians working under such entry conditions are prone to raids and severe criminal sanctions, the threat of which can be used by people wishing to exploit them, the minister explained.
- The agreement with Malaysia, reached during the recently concluded ASEAN meeting in Bali, will come into effect once migrant workers begin to flow again.
- In accordance with the agreement, the Malaysian government will cease to issue JP visas for the purposes of people seeking work, once the Indonesian government lifts the moratorium on sending migrant workers to Malaysia, Muhaimin said.
The matter of visas was one of 11 points agreed between Muhaimin and his Malaysian counterpart, S. Subramaniam. Other points included wage rates and methods of payment, written employment contracts, a guaranteed weekly break, prohibition on passport confiscation, pre-departure training and regulation of recruitment agencies, processes and charges.
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