REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government will attempt to renegotiate with the Saudi government to legalize illegal Indonesian immigrant workers who have overstayed their residency permits, a senior official said.

"We hope to get special treatment for Indonesians who have taken part in the amnesty program offered by the Saudi government, despite the fact that the amnesty program (SPLP) has ended," direct general for manpower development and placement, Reyna Usman, said here on Tuesday.

Up until the amnesty program deadline expired on November 3, 2013, 101,067 Indonesians without valid permits had applied to the program to obtain amnesty from the Saudi government. In fact, the number of Indonesians without legal permits is believed to be even larger.

Of this number, 17,306 have been awarded work contracts in Saudi Arabia, while 6,700 have returned to Indonesia.

On Sunday, the Saudi government ended the amnesty program it had offered in the past several months to foreigners, including Indonesians, who had overstayed their permits.

"The Saudi government will soon conduct raids on those without permits. Indonesian migrants who are apprehended will be held at immigration detention centers before they are deported," Jumhur Hidayat, the head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI), said on Sunday.

Jumhur added that based upon information he received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Indonesians who had sought travel documents in lieu of passports (SPLP) totaled 95,262.

He said of this total, 15,571 had obtained official manpower documents from the Saudi government, while 6,035 others had been given exit permits to return to Indonesia. Of the 6,035, 5,973 had returned to the country.

Thus, Jumhur said, there are still 73,655 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia who have not yet obtained manpower documents or exit permits.

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