An Indonesian non-governmental organisation has taken the Indonesian envoy in Kuala Lumpur to task for his alleged incompetency in dealing with the illegal migrant workers issue.

"The Indonesian authority should discipline their diplomatic staff about their constitutional obligations to protect Indonesian citizens," said Migrant Care country coordinator Alex Ong in a strongly-worded statement.

He claimed that the plight of illegal Indonesian workers worsened in Malaysia "due to irresponsible Indonesian officers beginning from ambassador H Rusdiharjo who has not done his homework or carried out his duties effectively."

He said it was 'grossly incorrect and misleading' for the embassy to claim that there only 500-odd Indonesian workers locked in wage disputes with their employers.

"The official record from the 51 reports filed at the Indonesian embassy labour department already amounts to1,130 cases. Out of which, about 200 cases involve Migrant Care," he added.

Minister has 'better picture'

Ong said Indonesia's Labour and Transmigration Minister Fahmi Idris is "more well learned" about the issue compared to the ambassador who lives here.

"Fahmi had visited the undocumented work sites, ports, agency consortiums and plantations and had personally talked to thousands of Indonesian workers in the past four weeks,

"He certainly has a better picture about the reality of things compared to Rusdihardjo," he claimed.

In an interview with malaysiakini recently, Fahmi claimed that 100,000 Indonesian illegal workers have not been paid their wages but this was refuted by Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn.

As for the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants, Ong said the Indonesian embassy has hardly come up with figures on the number of Indonesian citizens arrested.

"There was no pro-active action by the embassy to send their officers to monitor the operation," he said, adding that many raids carried out by voluntary groups such as Rela and Rukun Tetangga were without proper supervision by immigration enforcement officials.

He said the embassy has also failed to follow up on those arrested and placed in detention camps.

"In the Semenyih detention camp, documented workers were also arrested. Some detainees complain about the lack of proper meals in the detention camp," he claimed.

Ong also alleged that there were many incidents where the process of deportation did not comply with standard procedures.

Baseless allegations

Meanwhile, Indonesian embassy deputy chief of mission A M Fachir dismissed these allegations.

According to him, embassy officers have been working hard on the issue of illegal immigrants even before the Malaysian government announced an amnesty period.

"Even before the amnesty, we anticipated what problems we might face," he told a press conference yesterday.

"I've personally talked with our consular in Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Penang on the matter before the amnesty," he added.

Fachir said it is also pointless to dwell on the number of workers involved in wage disputes with Malaysian employers.

"The most important thing is that we need to settle the problem. I think Migrant Care and us share the same vision on this," he added.

The Indonesian ambassador is currently not in Kuala Lumpur.