In an editorial today, the Jakarta Post said the conclusion of the agreement was no reason to ignore the 11-year-old Asean Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, which was upgraded to an “Asean Consensus” last November.
It said among the principles of the 2007 Cebu Declaration were that receiving and sending states shall, for humanitarian reasons, “closely cooperate to resolve the cases of migrant workers who, through no fault of their own, have subsequently become undocumented”.
The newspaper said the commitments set out in the declaration had remained unfulfilled.
Mahathir, 92, returns home from Jakarta today following a two-day official visit in which he held a series of meetings with Indonesian president Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.
The editorial claimed that another crackdown on illegal workers by the Malaysian government would be carried out soon.
“Many Indonesians and migrant workers of other countries could again be victims ‘through no fault of their own’, thanks to human traffickers, corrupt bureaucrats and law enforcers in the sending and receiving countries, and employers in Malaysia seeking cheap, docile labour,” it said.
It added that half of the almost 2 million migrant workers in Malaysia were estimated to be undocumented.
“But it is safe to say both Malaysians and Indonesians hope for the best for future neighbourly cooperation despite occasional squabbles,” it said.
Earlier today, Jokowi was reported as calling for the protection of Indonesian migrant workers , as well as the development of schools for their children in Malaysia, in his discussions with Mahathir.
According to Jakarta Post, Mahathir acknowledged the need for the Indonesian children to have their rights to education fulfilled.
A number of schools had been established in Peninsular Malaysia, though more were needed, he reportedly said.
“However, schools for Indonesian children are not yet established in Sabah and Sarawak and, therefore, we will improve this [situation],” he was quoted as saying.
In February, Jakarta had sent a diplomatic note to Putrajaya calling for immediate measures to prevent violence against its nationals working in Malaysia and to ensure that their rights were upheld.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said that the note also condemned the alleged abuse and murder of domestic worker Adelina Lisao who had been working under a Malaysian employer in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, on Feb 11.
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