JAKARTA: The issue of Indonesian illegal immigrant workers (PATI) was the main agenda of the recent meeting between Indonesian and Malaysian immigration.
The meeting, held at the Malaysian Immigration Headquarters in Putrajaya last Tuesday, was attended by the Immigration Malaysia director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh and his counterpart Silmy Karim.
Silmy, in a statement, said: “The visit to Malaysian Immigration headquarters is aimed at finding a solution for PATI so that they can become legal workers.
His side is ready to issue passports to the illegal workers who are working, and he suggested that Malaysian Immigration issue work permits with certain procedures until they have complete documents.
The meeting also touched on efforts to prevent human trafficking.
According to the statement, there are 450,000 Indonesian workers recorded by the Malaysian government so far, compared to 1.5 million workers recorded by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia has repatriated 11,000 Indonesian workers, and a total of 309 Indonesians are still at the Malaysian Immigration Detention Depot.
Prior to his arrival in Malaysia, Silmy inspected the Indonesian Immigration offices in Pontianak and Entikong, West Kalimantan, on Monday.
He also visited the Tebedu Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security (ICQS) Complex, about 100 kilometres from Kuching, which is the gateway between Sarawak and West Kalimantan. – BERNAMA
