Govt Urged To Give Response To Malaysia's Visa Policy

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Dec 23 (Antara) - A local legislator has urged the Indonesian government to respond to Malaysia`s decision to raise visa fees for Indonesian migrant workers (TKI). "We are surprised by the Malaysian policy because we are (West Nusa Tenggara (NTB)) one of the largest TKI senders to Malaysia. So, we ask the government to respond to the problem," HMS Kasdiono, the deputy chairman of Commission V on TKI affairs of the NTB Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD), said here on Tuesday. He said that the Malaysian unilateral decision burdened very much Indonesian migrant workers who were going to work in the neighboring country. The local lawmaker said that each TKI willing to work in Malaysia was required to pay a visa fee amounting to Rp882,000, which increased from the previous Rp55,000. After all, the funds from the visa fee is reportedly not collected by the Malaysian government but by private firms. "This is a question for us in NTB to know whether the new policy is applied to migrant workers from all countries or only to those coming from Indonesia, or whether the Malaysian government is willing to earn an income from its visa policy or there is another thing we are not informed of," he said. Kasdiono said that the Indonesian government should also take a policy in responding to the Malaysian new decision so that it would not burden Indonesian migrant workers. He said that the Indonesian government should lobby all TKI users in TKI importing countries that the cost of visa which was part of official immigration documents should be borne by TKI users. "This is the thing that should be discussed with users in Malaysia. Malaysia should be convinced that visa is part of the official documents that should be borne by TKI user countries," the legislator said.