REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By. Ageng Wibowo

JAKARTA -- Santi, a migrant worker from Sukabumi, Indonesia, is seen biting her lip while occasionally glancing at the Indonesian Consulate General's officers who are calling out names just outside the Saudi Arabia's immigration detention shelter.

Santi has been waiting for her name to be called from among hundreds of other migrant workers in front of the shelter she has been occupying in the past month.

"I just want to get home to Indonesia. I had to stay in this shelter for a month," explained Santi, not long after her name was called out by the one of the officers, as she went hurrying into the shelter to pack her belongings.

Santi is just one of the 11 thousand Indonesian labourers that have violated Saudi Arabia's staying and working permit occasionally called the overstayer.

In the last one year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided an amnesty period to foreigners working in the country.

During the amnesty period thousands of Indonesian citizens, who have violated their resident permit and a work permit in Saudi Arabia, rushed to the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh as well as the Consulate General of Indonesia in Jeddah to rectify their statuses.

However, the number of Indonesian overstayers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is too large, leaving about 11 thousand Indonesians without an opportunity to use the amnesty period beneficially.

The amnesty period given by the government of Saudi Arabia ended on November 3 and those who could not avail of the opportunity to correct their statuses, were housed in the Tarhil immigration detention centers in Shumaysi.

Tarhil Shumaysi is located between Jeddah and Mecca, and it consists of 27 blocks, with 75 "Amber" (dorms) in each block. Each Amber measures approximately 10X18 meters and is equipped with 36 bunk beds for 72 inmates, eight small bathrooms, two rooms for sunbathing and one dining room.

The dorm is fully air conditioned and the residents have been given three meals a day.

Earlier, on June 9, there was a slight commotion in front of the Consulate General in Jeddah due to the surge of Indonesian citizens that wanted to correct their statuses, thus forcing the local police to intervene.

The number of Indonesians at the Jeddah Consulate General was more than 12,000.

After the commotion, several decided to gather under a bridge on Palestine Road, following a directive from the local police, to avoid traffic congestion in the Consulate General's area.

Majority of those who gathered under the Palestine road bridge were from out of Jeddah and decided to stay on in Jeddah until the immigration administration processes were complete.

The Saudi Arabian government will deport the rest of the Indonesian overstayers that are located in the detention center, only after the administrative process, which has been determined by the local government, are followed.

The deportation process is to be completed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only after the overstayers are questioned by immigration officer Jawazad, after which they will be taken to the detention centers, where they will undergo fingerprint and photo identification (Basmah).

The identification process is done mainly to track down the overstayer's criminal records, if any, during their stay in the Saudi Arabian Kingdom.

Once cleared of any violation of the law, the immigration will issue an exit permit and immediately deport the overstayer to Indonesia.

Owing to their illegal status as residents and having been deported by the government of Saudi Arabia, they will be banned from returning to the Kingdom for a period of at least 10 years.

However, if during the identification process, the overstayer is found to have violated the law, then the person will have to undergo further verification inspection process and will be made to account for the crime before the issuance of an exit permit.

Problems with their previous employers often hamper the exit permit issuance, besides theft or traffic ticket fines. However, in severe cases, the overstayer must undergo punishment in accordance with the applicable law.

The Consulate General in Jeddah also supports the entire Indonesian overstayers? deportation process by facilitating the issuance of Passport, such as travel documents, for those who do not have passports.

The representatives of the Indonesian government continue to monitor and seek the speeding up of the process of returning the overstayers to their country.

RI Representative Performance in Saudi Arabia

Having given the placement of foreign nationals in the immigration detention center, the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its affiliated agencies, the Consulate General in Jeddah, can only monitor the state of its citizens.

However, unlike other government representatives from countries such as the Philippines, Ethiopians, Yemen, Nepal, Thailand and Pakistan, Indonesia is always monitoring the representative citizens by constantly providing three duty officers in a 24 hour shift.

According to the Consul General to Jeddah Dharmakitry Syailendra Putra, the number of Indonesian overstayers being greater than Filipinos, which only amounted to 650 people, the Indonesians have been given deportation priority.

"We constantly monitor the overstayer's condition to meet their needs. That's why they are still able to eat well and sleep on mattresses in rooms equipped with air conditioners," stated Dharma.

According to Dharma, all the deportation process is entirely the right of the royal government of Saudi Arabia. The Indonesian Consulate General can only monitor the process and provide support to expedite the deportation of Indonesian overstayers that stands at about 11,200 people.

"Originally, we targeted that the handling of the overstayers can be done within eight days, with two daily flights provided by the government of Saudi Arabia. However, there are several administrative errors and the process is taking longer," explained Dharma.

Nevertheless, the number of Indonesian overstayers has reduced gradually until mid-December with about 1,900 remaining in the detention center to be discharged soon.

Besides, approximately another 300 Indonesian overstayers have been brought to the detention centers, after being found by the police at a former parking lot in Jeddah airport, Mator Qodim.

These Indonesians had intentionally gathered at the former airfield to be deported, using the special Saudi Air flight provided by the government of Saudi Arabia, through the immigration detention centers, Tarhil Shumaysi.

So far, the Indonesian government, through its representatives in the Embassy in Riyadh, and the Consulate General in Jeddah, have encouraged and assisted in the repatriation of Indonesian overstayers safely.

The Government of Indonesia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are still discussing the agreement to reopen the temporary suspension (moratorium) of Indonesian migrant workers, after it was implemented in August 2011.

"Until now, the both the governments are finalizing the agreement to reopen the moratorium on sending migrant workers, and it will be resolved as soon as possible to avoid the recurrence of the problem of overstayers," added Dharma.

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