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NUSA DUA, BALI - About 78 Indonesians who are being detained by authority in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for their involvement in a stampede in front of the Indonesian consulate will be deported soon, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Thursday.
"The embassy is aware of the deportation plan and has provided adequate assistance. However it must be noted that we have to abide by the local law," said the minister adding that all 78 are being detained in a center for deportation, not in jail.
Last June 9, a stampede happened in front of the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah after thousands of Indonesian migrant workers who had been waiting for hours in front of the consulate to obtain documents in lieu of passport (SPLP) turned violent. An Indonesian is reportedly died in the incident.
"The victim was trapped in a queue of thousands of Indonesians wanting to get legal documents for their stay in Saudi Arabia. The queuing turned into chaotic situation that killed one Indonesian," Foreign Affairs Ministry`s spokesman Michael Tene said.
He explained the Indonesian Consulate office since May 13 until July 3 is offering service for Indonesians living in Saudi Arabia to register themselves and complete the required documents to stay in Saudi Arabia. The policy is made after Saudi Arabian government announced it will give the chance for illegal foreign workers to work in the country as long as they can complete the documents required to stay.
"During the past weeks there have been thousands of Indonesian workers who come to the consulate office to get the documents. The process runs smoothly. We regret to see the chaotic situation happening last Sunday. Right now the consulate general has added more officers to fasten the process for those workers to get their documents," said the spokesman.
Meanwhile Chief of the Indonesian Advocates Association (AAI) Humphrey Djemat called the Foreign Ministry to act quickly in response to the riot.
"The Foreign Ministry has yet to assign a new consul general to lead the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah. As a result, nobody can lead it or give directives to all staff members to process (applications for travel documents in lieu of passport/SPLP)," Djemat said.
According to AAI`s data, about 40 thousand of two million Indonesian migrant workers employed in Saudi Arabia have violated their permit of stay so that the Saudi government considers them illegal.
Djemat, one-time spokesman for the Indonesian Migrant Workers Task Force, said previously applications for SPLP were not processed at the consulate general but at other building outside it.
This was done to anticipate the rising number of migrant workers lining up for SPLP, he said. He alleged that the riot was also incited by several panders who provoked the migrant workers to commit the riot.
"There were a lot of panders who offered their services to the migrant workers by paying 300 to 400 Saudi Riyals. When the panders failed to meet their promises, they blamed the Indonesian consulate general for working slowly and unprofessionally and as a result, the migrant workers got angry with the consulate general," he said.
He proposed that the consulate general held a discussion with the Saudi government about the extension of the deadline scheduled for July 3, 2013 to collect documents from the migrant workers.
"The Saudi immigration authorities must check the conduct status of the migrant workers. Likewise the Indonesian consulate general must check the citizenship status of the migrant workers. Therefore, more time is needed to do so," he said.
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