Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus (second from left) with undocumented migrant workers from East Nusa Tenggara province after they were rescued from a small boat that sank on its way from Malaysia to Indonesia in 2016. (Photo supplied)
A Catholic priest and activist has come out in support of the Indonesian government’s move to temporarily stop sending migrant workers to Malaysia.
“The government must be confident and bold. Malaysia needs Indonesian workers,” said Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, head of the Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in Pangkalpinang Diocese, whose territory borders Malaysia and Singapore.
The priest told UCA News that Indonesia must seriously evaluate issues concerning the protection of its migrant workers.
Hermono, the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, told state news agency Antara that the suspension would apply to all sectors from July 13 onwards, except for the 10,000 workers recruited prior to the decision.
He said the action was taken because Malaysia continued to allow recruitment through the so-called Maid Online System (MOS), which had poor protection standards for migrant workers who were exposed to human trafficking.
The MOS system allows potential workers to enter Malaysia using a tourist visa before applying for a work permit.
This, Hermono said, violates the agreement signed by the ministers of the two countries in April, agreeing to the use of the One Channel System (OCS) that allowed monitoring by both countries.
Father Saturnus said the agreement for OCS has many flaws as the system is currently managed by a private entity and there is little clarity on how and who would monitor it.
Wahyu Susilo, executive director of Migrant Care, said the suspension period should be used “as a bargaining tool to compel Malaysia to meet Indonesia's demands.”
Indonesia must set up a strict supervision system of its own to stop the illegal human trafficking of its workers to Malaysia, mostly as domestic workers and labor hands-on oil palm plantations.
Meanwhile, a report released by the Coalition of Sovereign Migrant Workers said that thousands of illegal migrant workers held in Malaysian detention centers were subjected to violence.
Some 25 people had died in detention since last year, the report revealed.
This prompted the Indonesian government to declare that it would immediately repatriate all who were held in detention.
The U.S. State Department had relegated Malaysia to the bottommost Tier 3 in its 2021 annual report assessing efforts by countries worldwide to combat human trafficking.
Kuala Lumpur did not convict officials suspected of complicity in migrant-related crimes nor did it fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, the report said.
