The Paper reporter Xu Zhenhua
Huang Guomeng was helpless when it came to his work in Indonesia .
He is from Henan province and is currently working in a nickel mining park in Morowali County, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Like him, many Chinese workers are stranded overseas due to "hard to get" air tickets back home. Huang Guomeng also faces a bigger problem. His passport has been detained in the hands of the outsourcing company since he came to Indonesia, which makes him unable to control his personal initiative.
"The visa we came to Indonesia is a business visa (which is not in line with the actual situation), not a work visa, so we can't get legal protection; the contract is also an irregular 'single contract', and our workers got a piece of paper that reads The paper that 'needs to obey the arrangement' is handed over after signing (there is no copy in hand). Passport seizure is a common phenomenon." Huang Guomeng told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that he was attracted by the "rich conditions" Indonesia, who has been working on Sulawesi Island for about half a year, has gradually clarified the various irregularities of this work abroad.
A number of cases show that in the place where Huang Guomeng works, the seizure of passports, entry of illegal visas, non-compliance or non-signature of contracts, deduction of wages, etc. are all relatively common phenomena. Zhang Qiang, Zhang Zhenjie, Wei Pengjie, Guo Peiyang and Tian Mingxin, five workers from Henan Province, Huang Guomeng's "compatriots", came to Indonesia to work on "212 business visas" through introductions in March this year. Like Huang Guomeng, they worked on the nickel project on in Sulawesi, first in Morowali County and later in Kendari City. After working in Indonesia, they found that the actual treatment was far less than what they promised, and they also saw many non-compliance on the construction site. As a result, Zhang Qiang and the other five decided to resign and return to China in June, but they were unable to get back their seized passports.
On September 2 this year, Zhang Qiang and other five people sent a letter of help through the WeChat public account, trying to get their company to return their passports. On September 19, the family members of the above five people received text messages respectively, and found that the five people had been transported by "smugglers" from Indonesia and Malaysia , and had been smuggled to Malaysia, and were soon arrested by the local army on the coast of Johor, Malaysia. "They listened to the words of the local smugglers,He thought that with the help of a smuggler, he could return from Malaysia by smuggling. "Zhang Qiang's wife Wang Lan told The Paper.
With the help of the family members of the five people and the assistance of Malaysian human rights lawyer Liu Yilong, on October 6, the Malaysian side decided not to prosecute the five people who smuggled into the country and started the repatriation procedure directly. Wang Lan The family members emphasized that the five people took the risk and chose to smuggle because they had no hope of returning to China and almost had a nervous breakdown. span4span and the Chinese embassy in Malaysia coordinated the repatriation procedures, one of them will board the return plane as soon as December 24, and the other four will need to wait another 3 or 6 weeks after the 24th. The Chinese who were stranded in Indonesia with Huang Guomeng and others Compared with the workers, Zhang Qiang and other five suffered "unfortunate", but they are expected to return to China through the one-time certificate wholesaled by the embassy, which is still considered "lucky" to some extent.
Information about Zhang Qiang in the Malaysian military statement , the red note is provided by surging news .
"I'm used to the environment here, and it's easier to switch from heavy work as an electrician to a logistics position. But there are still many workers who can't stand the guilt, such as being exposed to the sun, unpalatable meals and the pain of not being able to return to China, and many have fallen into depression. "Huang Guomeng, who has no hope of returning to China in the short term, told The Paper that he has given up his plan to return to China before the Spring Festival next year; as for whether he can return to China after the Chinese New Year, he is not sure.
Memorial University of Newfoundland School of Medicine Public Shan Desai, an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Humanities, told The Paper: "Passport deduction is indeed a common method used by employers to deal with foreign workers, and the problems faced by the above-mentioned workers have been suspected of forced labor, human trafficking and other criminal offences. The role of labor laws and regulations is actually limited. I am afraid this is not the scope that labor law can solve. It needs to be reported to the police. But the question is, do the local police and the police where the laborers domicile have the will and ability to enforce the law? "Shan Desai once engaged in maritime and maritime legal business in China. After engaging in academic research, he mainly focuses on cross-border labor, seafarers' rights and maritime occupational health.
In addition to the epidemic and expensive air tickets, what other reasons make some Chinese workers trapped in Indonesia? What keeps them from defending their rights unimpeded?
"Island"
The paths of Chinese laborers such as Huang Guomeng, Zhang Zhenjie, Wei Pengjie, Guo Peiyang, Tian Mingxin, and Zhang Qiang to Indonesia are similar.
According to Huang Guomeng, last year, the domestic construction site industry was hit by the new crown epidemic, making it difficult for him to find a job. "Last year, I was looking for a job. I searched on my mobile phone and saw an agent in Beijing. I didn't believe him at first. When I saw that this Beijing intermediary's circle of friends sent a lot of information about going to work in Indonesia, I believed him." Huang Guomeng said.
Previously, Huang Guomeng had also engaged in manual work overseas, and he was very satisfied with the work at that time. This made him relax his guard. In order to come to work in Indonesia, Huang Guomeng paid an intermediary fee of 4,000 yuan. According to him, the intermediary who introduced him to the job had no qualifications and was not a registered company. "The intermediary told me that the conditions here in Indonesia are very good, and he is my hometown, so he can't lie to me, so I believe it." s plane.
"When I got off the plane, the agency didn't care about me. It's up to others to decide. I said it well before I came, but when I came to Indonesia, I encountered a problem, and the agency asked me to go to the boss to deal with it. It's none of his business." Huang Guomeng complained.
According to Huang Guomeng's description, when he was working in the second phase of Delong Industrial Park in Kendari, he worked almost every day, from 6:00 in the morning to 5:30 in the afternoon, "there are no holidays and no rest classes". In terms of treatment, he was originally promised a salary of 14,000 yuan per month, but the actual monthly salary was around 10,000 yuan, and there was often a backlog of wages. "When I signed the contract, it said that the salary would be paid every two months. Now it has become two months without payment." Huang Guomeng said.
In addition, workers will have their wages deducted when they apply for a break. Every time they take a break, more than 400 yuan will be deducted. Workers who are distressed about their wages often choose not to take time off. The deduction of wages has gradually become a means of punishment.Workers may be punished by "stop work" if they cause dissatisfaction with their supervisors.
Huang Guomeng described work as "squatting". "The place I live in is a two-story model house similar to a domestic construction site. Most people can't bear this kind of suffering: the weather is exposed to the sun and the ultraviolet rays are strong; I eat rice and steamed bread, and the dishes don't taste good. If you want to eat better, you can take it yourself. Make some instant noodles in a small pot to relieve tiredness; drinking to relieve boredom is also expensive, and there are many Muslims in Indonesia who do not drink, so beer here is very expensive, and it costs 15 yuan a bottle." It is the stainless steel integrated smelting project of Indonesian OSS Company (PT.Obsidian Stainless Steel). The company is a joint venture established by China Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Xiangyu Group . It is a large-scale iron and steel enterprise integrating nickel-iron alloy production and stainless steel smelting.
Huang Guomeng's experience is not an isolated case. Li Junyang, a Hunan native who is over 500 years old, is also deeply tormented by the difficult working environment. "In such a hot weather, with a high temperature of 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, we will start work after lunch until 12:30 noon; if you are ten minutes late, you will be deducted for an hour's wages, and if you dare to be late for half an hour, you will be deducted. "Working" for a long time. Too domineering!" Li Junyang told The Paper. From the end of April to the middle of May, his working environment was fairly normal, but since the end of May, he has been subjected to long-term "oppressive acts such as beatings, making things difficult, and arbitrarily deducting wages."
Wang Lan's photo of the working environment.
Speaking of going abroad to work this time, Li Junyang felt remorse, and repeatedly said "too bad luck". He accused the outsourcing company that hired him of underpaying wages. In April this year, in order to go to work in Indonesia, he paid a deposit of 5,500 yuan to an intermediary company. "It's been almost eight months before they gave me 10,000 yuan, including a deposit of 5,500 yuan, and they didn't pay other workers' money." Li Junyang said, "I can earn at least 400 yuan a day in China, the agency said. It’s definitely not lower than this, I’m willing to come, but now I’m only paid 350 yuan per day.” Li Junyang works at the Delong Phase III construction site, located in Morowali County.
He once reported to his superiors the situation of "arbitrary deduction of wages", but he was violently treated by superiors who were dissatisfied with his appeal.Li Junyang said that one morning in mid-September, other workers around him were called to work, leaving him alone in the corner of the room, and then there were three managers (Li Junyang called the three as Yin, Yang, and Zhu). A) carried out a gang fight against him. When he woke up from the pain, he found that he was sent to a local hospital, and was sent back to the park two days later.
Many of the interviewed workers reported that there were physical conflicts on the construction site, which would also become a handle for personal control. "If I dare to complain about my passport being withheld or not being released, my superiors will threaten to report my fight with someone to the local police station." He was in the industrial park of another Chinese-owned nickel mining company on Sulawesi Island. Zhao Yaxin, who works, said.
The medical report sent by Li Junyang, the text is roughly as follows: "There is a weak fracture line on the parietal bone, accompanied by a transparent shadow in the right parietal bone area." He hopes to go to the hospital for examination and treatment, but the strict access control system in the park prevents him from going to the local hospital for treatment. Having been unable to work, he had to stay in bed to recuperate. "There are Indonesian security guards at the door, we can't get out." Li Junyang said.
Huang Guomeng's words can also confirm Li Junyang's story. "The park is in the 'Shangougou', and there are security guards at the gate. We usually can't go out, and we must have an exit ticket to let us go. Even if we drive by car, it takes 40 to 50 minutes to reach the nearby towns. Walk around." Huang Guomeng said, because he did not know how to call the police because of the language barrier, "If we complain, the superior will call the Indonesian security guard, threaten us, or put us in confinement."
"I have been there for more than ten months. The workers have never left the industrial park once, and they usually live near the living and working areas." Zhang Qiang and other five people wrote in their help article posted on the WeChat public account on September 2.
According to a report by Chinese news website in May 2020, after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Indonesia in March of that year, the second phase of the Indonesian Delong Industrial Park located on the outskirts of Kendari implemented closed management for "taking social responsibility". policy. A worker A, who used to work in Delong, told The Paper that before the epidemic, employees of Delong Phase II could freely enter and leave the park during commuting hours.
Although there are epidemic prevention considerations behind the closure measures,But this has not been implemented for every employee in the park. Huang Guomeng, Li Junyang and other Chinese workers in the park said in an interview with The Paper that Indonesian workers in the park would leave the park after get off work and return to their residences near the park. Several interviewed workers described the closure of the park as a "prison" for them.
Zhang Qiang and other five workers who were still in the Malaysian detention camp came to Sulawesi through introductions. Wei Pengjie's wife Zhang Yajie recalled to The Paper that Wei Pengjie once worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and only learned about the opportunity to work in Indonesia through the introduction of his workmates at Dubai . The other four workers in the camp are fellow villagers and friends of Wei Pengjie.
"Wei Pengjie started working very early and has been to Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei. The salary for a day in China is about 300 yuan. The introducer in Indonesia said that the salary is 500 yuan a day, and he will pay 10,000 yuan for living expenses every month. I didn't want him to go because I was worried about the new crown epidemic abroad, but he said that the introducer guaranteed that there would be no epidemic in Indonesia, so I agreed." Zhang Yajie said. Zhang Qiang's wife, Wang Lan, said that Zhang Qiang also has experience working abroad. He is a skilled riveter and welder, and his daily salary for domestic workers is more than 300 yuan.
"Zhang Qiang went abroad in a hurry. Around March 15, he heard that he could go abroad to work. After three or four days' stay in his hometown from Shanghai, he prepared his luggage and went. He always told me that even if the daily salary was only 20 yuan more , he is willing to change jobs for a higher daily salary." Wang Lan said. However, according to the self-reported articles originally published by the five workers and their families, the monthly living allowance of 10,000 yuan per worker was stopped after only two months, and their working hours also increased from the agreed 9 hours to 9.5 hours.
Zhang Yajie said that their family only received a total of 20,000 yuan for food for two months, and the money was transferred in multiple transfers. "Wei Pengjie always said that the work was very tiring, and there was no rest time on weekends. Later, they heard that many Chinese workers had difficulty returning home, and they also heard that some workers were injured at work but could not be treated in time, and some even committed suicide. The attitude is very bad, they want to go back to China." Zhang Yajie said.
In the circle of Chinese workers in Indonesian mining areas, news of Chinese workers committing suicide occasionally spreads. According to a report by Indonesian media TribunNews on October 18,On the same day, the body of a Chinese worker was found in Morosi District, Konawe County, Southeastern Sulawesi Province, suspected of hanging himself.
According to the data, the reserves of nickel ore resources in Indonesia are about 1.3 billion tons, and Sulawesi Island accounts for about 80% of the nickel ore resources in Indonesia. There are many nickel ore enterprises such as Delong, Qingshan and PT TITAN scattered on the island. Nickel ore is an important industry in Indonesia, but Sulawesi is a less developed area in Indonesia. It is far away from Indonesia's political, economic and population center island Java. The characteristics of Indonesia's "country of islands" also make The traffic between Sulawesi and Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is very inconvenient.
The doctoral student at the National University of Singapore, who studies the history of maritime Southeast Asia during the colonial period, Wang Lezhi, told The Paper: "The long maritime border between Indonesia and its neighbors is actually quite turbulent; the policy of population export and import between countries has been fluctuating for a long time. It is normal for migrants and workers to be abused, die, or get caught in the delay of border inspections in various countries for a long time.”
Zhang Qiang and other five workers traveled from Morowali to Kendari and finally decided to return to China as soon as possible. , but the superior company has been slow to hand over the passports to them. When they posted a letter of help through the WeChat public account , they said that as long as they could get a passport, they would be willing to "walk from Kendari to Jakarta". But judging from Indonesia's geographical conditions, this is obviously not feasible. After hearing about people smuggling out of Indonesia, they took the risk.
"Marine Southeast Asia" topographic map, the blue point is the approximate location of Johor, Malaysia, the red point is the approximate location of Kendari, Indonesia, and the green point is Jakarta, Indonesia.
According to the Malaysian media "Sin Chew Daily" in September, ten Indonesian stowaways were also arrested at the same time as the five Chinese workers. There are many illegal workers from Indonesia in Malaysia. Zhang Qiang and other five Chinese workers tried to leave Indonesia using a similar route to the illegal entry of Indonesian workers into Malaysia.
"Friends in Malaysia are still shocked to see the smuggling route of the five Henan workers, none of us know what they went through on their way from Kendari to the coast of Johor, Malaysia."Liu Yilong told The Paper.
Dilemma
"Common cross-border employment models are divided into foreign labor cooperation, foreign contracted project assignments, and foreign investment assignments." Wang Tianyi, a lawyer from Shanghai Jiang Delta Law Firm, told The Paper. Different models have corresponding laws and regulations to clarify responsibilities, such as China's " Foreign Labor Cooperation Management Regulations" and " Foreign Contracting Project Management Regulations". , foreign labor service cooperation enterprises and foreign project contracting units pay a certain reserve fund to the state to ensure the payment of labor service remuneration and compensation due to laborers in the event that the aforementioned enterprises refuse or cannot afford the cost, which can protect Laborers who go to work overseas through overseas investment outsourcing and overseas project contracting.
"So when workers are sent abroad, they should clearly confirm with the sending unit the ownership of their labor relationship, working conditions and rights, and the responsibilities of the three parties. If it is dispatched through an overseas labor dispatch company, it is recommended to clarify its relevant qualifications. Wang Tianyi also mentioned that labor service company should conduct training before employees go to work abroad, so that these employees can clarify their rights.
However, Huang Guomeng, Li Junyang and other family members of five detained workers, including Zhang Qiang, told The Paper Said that they have never heard of pre-departure training, and the labor service company that connects with the laborers has not carried out training.
Shan Desai pointed out that Chinese laborers who go abroad to work cannot directly sign a labor contract with overseas employers, even if the relevant enterprises Chinese-funded background. "According to relevant laws and regulations, foreign enterprises, natural persons and foreign institutions in China are not allowed to directly recruit laborers in China. Based on a specific project, the general contractor will have personnel requirements, and the external labor dispatch unit will provide personnel. There will be contracts between overseas employment agencies and domestic dispatched agencies to stipulate labor services and remuneration, as well as the handling of work-related injuries and work-related fatalities, and whether Chinese labor laws or local labor laws and regulations apply to the project.Shan Desai said, "But this agreement belongs to the scope of commercial contracts. It is negotiated between overseas employment agencies and domestic dispatch agencies and is generally not disclosed to Chinese workers.
The Paper called Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. to inquire about the above situation. A person who answered the phone, claiming to be from the personnel department, said that the company was inconvenient to be interviewed by the media, and that the company's Indonesian project was not Will cooperate with outsourcing companies.
Wang Lan said: "Zhang Qiang once told me that the workers who contract directly with Delong's company are better treated, and the leaders of Delong's company seem to be concerned about the disputes caused by the non-compliant behavior of the outsourcing company. Quite helpless. The relationship between outsourcing companies is very confusing, and (local Chinese workers) they often don't understand the relationship between companies. "
"Delong has many direct recruits, and has its own labor service company 'Shenlong Labor Dispatching', but there are also some intermediaries who will attract workers under the banner of Delong (as Party A), and then send Chinese workers to Indonesia. The work of the outsourced construction unit of the Dragon Project. "Lin Senyu from Sichuan Province told The Paper. Lin Senyu once worked in the parks of nickel mining companies such as Delong and Qingshan.
According to the Jiangsu Provincial Business Integrity Public Service Platform, Jiangsu Xiangshui Shenlong Foreign Labor Service Co., Ltd. is a Enterprises that dispatch various types of laborers overseas are limited to dispatching various types of laborers to Delong Nickel Indonesia. The outsourcing relationship is recommended at various levels, so there may be cases where the overseas employment agency is formal, but the dispatched agency is not. This makes it easy for migrant workers to be deceived, and it is often impossible to clarify the employment agency and dispatched agency in advance for work-related injuries and repatriation.
The intermediary or outsourcing company that provides job opportunities, the type of visa used for going abroad, the signing of the contract, the implementation of the contract and other steps may appear non-compliant. Huang Guomeng said that the intermediary he connected with The company does not have formal qualifications. Rongcheng Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd., which Zhang Qiang and other five workers are connected with, are from Jiangsu Province. The surging journalists tried to check the external information on the website of the Ministry of Commerce's "Business System Unified Platform" and the "Jiangsu Going Global Comprehensive Service Platform" website. The company was searched in the list of labor cooperation enterprises, but no results were found. As of press time, Rongcheng Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd. has not responded to The Paper's inquiry email.The company's phone number displayed by Tianyancha could not be dialed either.
The Paper could not find the relevant companies in the list of foreign labor service cooperation enterprises.
As far as the legal environment in Indonesia is concerned, Wang Tianyi pointed out that if a Chinese worker in Indonesia has a labor relationship with a company in China, he can obtain relief according to the Chinese labor law, labor contract law and other laws and regulations; If a relationship is established and a labor contract is signed with an Indonesian company, relief can be obtained in Indonesia in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Indonesian Employment Creation Law and the path of labor dispute resolution. The
contract is an important basis for obtaining legal remedies . Huang Guomeng has no contract backup. However, some Chinese workers who have encountered difficulties in Indonesia have contracts, and their legal rights may not be guaranteed. Family members of detained workers such as Wang Lan and Zhang Yajie recalled to The Paper that their husbands had long realized the importance of holding contracts, so they had been urging the company to sign contracts with them.
Zhang Yajie said: "Wei Pengjie and the others thought that the longest construction period would be half a year, but they did not sign the contract. Later, because they were worried that they would not be able to return to China after a year of work, they strongly urged the company to sign a contract. The company only agreed to sign the contract when there was more.” However, after the five workers finally received a sample contract in June, they felt unacceptable for the working conditions in the contract. "The working time has become 9.5 hours, and the monthly living expenses have changed from 10,000 yuan to 1,000 yuan. There is no time limit for the construction period. If you cannot return to China in the short term, you will have to go to another construction site after finishing work at one construction site, and this contract cannot be completed within half a year. Terminate. They feel like they've 'prostituted themselves'," Zhang Yajie said.
"Three months after arriving at the construction site, we asked many times about signing the work contract, but we were told that there was no printer at the construction site, so we could not sign the contract for the time being." Zhang Qiang and other five people wrote in their letter for help.
According to the "Engineering Service Contract" provided by Wang Lan and other family members, the contracting company employing five people is Rongcheng Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd. It is stated in the contract that when the contracted project of Party A (Rongcheng Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd.) is temporarily suspended for some reason, the project quantity is reduced or has been completed, they, as Party B, shall accept the arrangement of the contracting company,Going to the new construction site, the five people believe that this means that the same contract is still valid, and the validity will not stop within the agreed construction period of half a year.
The "Contract for Engineering Services" provided by the family members of the five workers.
Although it is stated in the contract that they can "go home and find another job", it is difficult to return to China in the short term, which means that they will always work on the construction site of the contracting company. The five workers fell into despair as they waited for contracts. In their view, if they signed a contract, they would put themselves at a disadvantage.
In addition to contracts, non-compliance with visas also makes rights protection difficult. Wang Wenzhen, a Chinese national who has provided help and advice to many Chinese stranded in Indonesia, said that most of the Chinese workers he has come into contact with who are engaged in labor work in Indonesia enter through irregular business visas, and they often do not know Indonesia's status before going abroad. Visa regulations. The family members of Zhang Qiang and other five detained workers and other workers interviewed by The Paper also said that many workers came to Indonesia to work on business visas.
Among Chinese workers who entered Indonesia for work on non-compliant visas, many mentioned the "212 business visa". According to the information provided by the online intermediary, Indonesian law stipulates that the entry validity period stipulated by this visa is 60 days, and it can be extended 4 times. The visa can only be used for business inspections, business visits, business meetings and other activities, only work is not allowed. Many intermediaries said on the Internet that the processing time of this kind of visa is about 3 to 5 days, and the speed is relatively fast. There are also intermediaries reminding on the Internet that after entering Indonesia with a "212 business visa", if immigration officials ask whether to come to work, they must deny it.
Although Indonesian labor law is known for being close to laborers and also protects foreign laborers, according to Wang Tianyi's analysis, the prerequisite for foreign laborers to obtain local labor law protection in Indonesia is to hold a compliant work visa, otherwise they will work illegally in Indonesia. The behavior of the worker also poses certain legal risks to the worker himself, and hinders the worker from obtaining judicial remedies.
"The company I work for is a local company in Indonesia. My passport has not been seized. The company has a special department responsible for handling the visa status of each foreign employee. All links are legal and compliant," said Wang Tulong, a Chinese employee who has been working in Jakarta for a long time."This is also the norm in the circle of employees of other Chinese companies in Indonesia, such as Huawei, , ZTE, and . Everyone works in Indonesia with regular work visas."
Wang Tulong has lived and worked in Jakarta for a long time. Facing the above-mentioned situation of Chinese workers on Sulawesi Island, he said with emotion: "The mining area is managed in a closed manner, and the location is often very remote; we 'white-collar workers' are located in the capital with the most developed economy and media resources, and live in Relatively convenient. We and they are like two parallel worlds.”
Regarding the issue of non-compliant visas, Wang Tianyi analyzed that this is a “severe crackdown on illegal employment for both China and the country where the workers are located.” and illegal employment practices”. “Only the proper way of employment for foreign workers can ensure that Chinese workers can obtain effective legal protection and relief locally. Therefore, when workers are sent abroad, they should be clear about the legal risks caused by non-compliance with their foreign visas, and what they should abide by in the host country. Entry and exit regulations for foreigners.”
And precisely because holding an illegal visa to work in Indonesia is an illegal act, Chinese workers who encounter labor disputes, personal safety and other issues dare not report the case to the local police.
The aforementioned Lin Sen said that in 2016, he worked in Tsingshan Company’s Morowali Industrial Park in Indonesia with a business sign, during which he evaded the inspection of the Indonesian Immigration Bureau due to the non-compliant visa he held. After he worked for half a year, the company's visa was replaced by a regular work visa. Tsingshan Holding Group Co., Ltd. is a stainless steel enterprise from Zhejiang, China. The Indonesian Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) jointly established by the group is often referred to as "Qingshan Park" among Chinese workers.
Many interviewed workers said that it has always been common for Chinese workers in nickel mining parks with illegal visas to hide when Indonesian immigration authorities and police come to check for fear of being searched.
The visa used by Lin Senyu to enter Indonesia for work in 2016, it says "business visa".
Wang Tianyi emphasized that if expatriates hold illegal visas, they should promptly urge relevant companies to apply for legal visas as soon as possible, or leave the country as soon as possible. However, in the face of the new crown epidemic and high air tickets, the Chinese laborers whose passports were detained could not "just go".This is why many people are stuck on Indonesian construction sites.
Shan Desai pointed out that although the seizure of passports against foreign workers is a common act of personal control, the above-mentioned problems faced by Chinese workers have been suspected of forced labor and criminal offenses. "At present, the domestic departments dealing with such disputes are mainly the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. It also depends on whether the local law enforcement agencies and the Chinese embassies and consulates are willing to intervene." Shan Desai said.
Wang Lan and Zhang Yajie said that the five smuggled workers sought official help before taking the risk. In June of this year, workers and their families complained to the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia about unpaid wages, and with the help of the embassy, they recovered some of the money, but the passport seizure problem has not been resolved. "In China, we contacted 110 to report to the police, but because the workers were in Indonesia and they were in Malaysia after smuggling, the police said it was difficult to intervene; local TV programs in Henan also said that it was difficult for the workers to help when they were overseas," Wang Lan said. And Li Junyang said that his family members in China have petitioned about his problems, and he is still waiting for the response from the relevant departments.
Wang Lan recalled that when she sought help through official channels such as the WeChat “Chinca84242447” and “12308 Hotline (Global Consular Protection and Service Emergency Hotline of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)” of the China International Contractors Association In the beginning, I can get a good response, but when it comes to issues such as salary and repatriation, it is difficult to get a breakthrough.
"We've made all the calls we could complain about. We've made a lot of wrong calls, and we've seen hope from some responses. But often the hope has just appeared, and the next call dashes the hope. Going around, we Still in place." Wang Lan said.
Cracks
"The problem of lack of protection for Chinese overseas laborers has been a problem for many years, and overseas seafarers have appeared since the early 1980s. Reform and opening up In the early days, seafarers were returned to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. , which is also a manifestation of treating expatriate workers as 'exported labor' and managing them with a commoditized mindset. They are not regarded as laborers, so it is difficult to obtain the protection of the "Labor Law"."Shan Desai said.
China has made many efforts to standardize cross-border labor dispatch. In 2004, China's Ministry of Commerce announced the " Management Measures for Foreign Labor Cooperation Operation Qualification"; The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs formulated the " Regulations on Preventing and Handling Overseas Labor Service Incidents"; in 2010, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China jointly issued a notice, requiring all localities to further strengthen the responsibility of expatriate enterprises and supervise the implementation of labor service personnel's regulations by expatriate enterprises. In terms of social security and overseas management, it is strictly forbidden to send labor services and irresponsible behaviors through intermediaries; on May 16, 2012, the State Council passed the "Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Labor Service Cooperation", which requires that "the units contracting projects abroad shall recruit them according to the law. The expatriate shall enter into a labor contract, provide the expatriate with working conditions and pay remuneration in accordance with the contract, and perform the obligations of the employing unit. The operating intermediary agencies shall not recruit expatriates through intermediary agencies that have not obtained a license in accordance with the law or have committed major illegal acts”; in 2016, the Ministry of Commerce formulated the “Measures for Handling Complaints and Reports of Foreign-related Labor Disputes”.
“Regulating cross-border labor dispatch It is a legal issue that the country has been improving, and it is also a compliance issue that many companies are paying more and more attention to. Expatriate workers also need to improve their own protection capabilities. For example, they should confirm that the foreign labor dispatch intermediary has the qualification requirements stipulated by law to ensure that the expatriate process is legal and compliant. If labor rights and interests are damaged during overseas work, they should promptly retain the corresponding requirements. Evidence, legal consultation with employers and dispatching agencies to protect rights and interests under the condition of ensuring personal safety. Wang Tianyi said.
Shan Desai said that the management of foreign labor has a relatively successful experience in the importing and exporting countries. She said: "In developed countries such as Canada, Australia, and South Korea, the local trade unions will also provide Foreign workers provide protection, and the local government has a special department to follow up on rulings and compensation matters; Philippine's POEA (Overseas Employment Administration) model is also more effective. This department provides all foreign workers with a unified national standard contract to ensure that All Filipino workers are sent abroad through compliance intermediaries,And these intermediaries are regulated by POEA. The deposit paid by the intermediary to POEA can be used to compensate the laborers, and if the overseas unit that recruits laborers violates labor rights and interests, the POEA can decide whether to revoke the license of the relevant intermediary.
In addition to the government of the host country, the official institutions involved in overseas Chinese labor issues also include Chinese embassies and consulates, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the domestic registration or household registration of the respondent. The government and other relevant departments of commerce, public security, industry and commerce administration, etc. are involved in a wide range of areas, which brings difficulties to solving problems.
Lu Jingbo, Shi Qing, Wang Tianyi published in the "2017 Ninth Lujiazui Rule of Law Forum" An article in "All the Way" and "Proceedings on Internationalization of Legal Services" mentioned that with the withdrawal of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions Overseas Rights Protection Coordination Office and the Foreign Workers' Rights and Interests Office and other institutions, China still lacks a special protection for the rights and interests of overseas workers.
The model of local trade unions in developed countries providing protection to foreign workers is not feasible in Indonesia. The labor conditions in Indonesia are not as good as those in developed countries; and despite the developed labor movement in Indonesia, its local protectionism tendency is obvious. According to an article in the South China Morning Post in July 2020, there were protests against Chinese workers organized by Indonesian students on Sulawesi at the time. These protesters believed that many Chinese workers working there did not hold formal qualifications. The work visa of the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower is the PRTKA (Foreign Worker Utilization Program) channel visa verified by the Ministry of Manpower of Indonesia.
Wang Renshu, the first ambassador of the new China to Indonesia and a modern writer, wrote the script "The Temple of the Five Ancestors" in Sumatra, Indonesia. The story of Chinese coolies being oppressed by the Dutch colonists proves that Chinese and Indonesians are connected in destiny in the face of structural oppression, but this union has not become the norm in history. "Looking back in history, Chinese laborers have often been the target of exclusion, and nationalism has also hindered Union of workers of different national backgrounds. In Indonesia, the Chinese/Chinese are stereotyped as hard-working, hard-working and worthy of high salaries, which creates a divide. "Wang Lezhi told The Paper.
The Chinese labor issue has always been a sensitive issue in the Indonesian political circle, and the current President Jokowi's political enemies often hype up and attack Jokowi. According to Indonesian media Tempo,Luhut, Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, and the head of cooperation with China, explained in July last year that Chinese workers who arrived in Sulawesi to work after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic were to fill local technical vacancies, such as high-tech The use of machines, and these Chinese workers will teach skills to local workers. Huang Guomeng also told The Paper, "We all need to 'pass, help, and lead' Indonesian workers here."
Luhut strongly denied the hype that "Chinese workers invaded", but in Indonesia's foreign labor management Despite the chaotic administration of the department, many Indonesians are still resistant to Chinese laborers. Pan Yue, an associate researcher at the School of International Relations of Jinan University and a visiting scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an Indonesian think tank, published in his "Chinese Labor Issues in Indonesia in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative" published in "Southeast Asian Studies", No. 3, 2017 The article mentioned that there is a lack of communication and coordination among the Indonesian Ministry of Labor, Immigration Bureau, and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, and the data on the number of Chinese laborers provided by the heads of various departments is quite inconsistent.
In addition to xenophobia, the Indonesian local factors that affect the rights and interests of Chinese workers include the Indonesian government's management methods and human resource conditions. The article "Chinese Labor Issues in Indonesia in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative" quoted a questionnaire and said that many Chinese companies believed that the labor problems in Indonesia had seriously affected the progress of the project, and the specific reasons included the difficulty in applying for work visas for Chinese workers.
This paper points out that in order to speed up the progress of the project, many Chinese companies have to find ways to bring workers from China to Indonesia to rush to work, and pay for work visa fees, intermediary fees, management fees, and food and accommodation for employees in Indonesia. Due to the continuous tightening of the conditions of work visas by the Indonesian Ministry of Labor, many Chinese companies have taken the risk and let their employees work in Indonesia on business visas. The paper also mentioned that some companies said that they once let their employees come to work in Indonesia with non-work visas; intermediaries are also difficult to provide compliant visas under the tightening of the Ministry of Labor and Immigration, and even deceive companies with non-compliant visas; Some employees of Chinese companies even use tourist visas to make multiple trips to avoid regulations.
Wang Tianyi analyzed that if the company invests in manufacturing factories in Indonesia, it must take "localization" operations in accordance with regulations to ensure a certain proportion of local labor quotas; but if the company adopts the project contracting model, it is only to complete short-term projects. Then it is also possible to introduce some Chinese laborers in the form of expatriates,The company and expatriate Chinese workers shall not only abide by the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Labor Service Cooperation and/or the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Contracted Projects, but also comply with local Indonesian laws and regulations.
According to the analysis of the article "China's Labor Issues in Indonesia in the Background of "One Belt and One Road", precisely because of the need to "rush to work", China's labor issues in Indonesia have fallen into a vicious circle: the lack of local skilled workers in Indonesia makes Chinese companies hire illegal Chinese workers Speed up the progress of the project; Indonesian authorities searched and found workers with non-compliant visas, which aroused public disgust. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor tightened the issuance of visas to Chinese workers again, making it difficult for Chinese workers to enter Indonesia through regular visa channels.
Mutual Aid
Huang Guomeng decided to stay in Indonesia and continue to work due to the expensive flight back to China. "The return air ticket is now more than 40,000 yuan, which is not very expensive. Our salary is only about 10,000 yuan a month at most, and the money for a few months' work is only enough to buy an air ticket. The average worker cannot afford it." Huang Guomeng said .
Air ticket prices of "ticket agents" in WeChat Moments provided by Indonesian workers.
Huang Guomeng thanked the five Henan fellows for their adventurous actions. "After the tossing of these five fellows in Henan, once they returned to China, and once they were exposed, (some outsourced managers in Delong Industrial Park) during this period of time have not spoken to their employees as badly and as "cow" as before." Huang Guomeng said. This is also confirmed in the accounts of other Chinese workers. In addition, a number of Chinese laborers told The Paper that the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia has issued documents to relevant companies, requiring them to conduct self-examinations on the conditions of workers.
It has been nearly 3 months since Wang Lan and other family members of Henan workers lost contact with their husbands on September 19. The five family members have been in contact with the Chinese embassy in Indonesia, the Chinese embassy in Malaysia and major airlines since September in order to seek the smooth return of their husbands. "I think if our husband's problem can be solved, more overseas Chinese workers will see the hope of solving the problem." Wang Lan said.
According to the instructions of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, Wang Lan and others bought five Xiamen Airlines return tickets on December 3 for their husbands in mid-November. Xiamen Airlines initially said that because the people to be repatriated were from detention camps with "high risk of the epidemic,"Therefore, five people were refused to board the plane. Following the complaints of the family members and lawyers who bought the tickets and the coordination of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, Xiamen Airlines decided not to return the tickets and allowed the five persons to be repatriated to return to China via Xiamen Airlines flights.
"Considering the current situation of passengers, our company has carried out special batch processing of passenger tickets and will adjust them according to the passenger's rescheduled travel date to China. At present, our company plans to help passengers in batches starting from December 24th. Return to China when it is compliant and meets the epidemic prevention requirements.” Xiamen Airlines (Kuala Lumpur Office) wrote in an email reply to The Paper on December 1.
According to the announcement on the website of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia on November 14, "The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia Coordinates Airlines and Testing Institutions to Reduce Airfares to China and Pre-departure Testing Fees", the Chinese embassy, within the scope of its powers, will work with relevant airlines. Communication and coordination with testing agencies. Airline companies and testing agencies have responded successively, fully considering the actual difficulties of Chinese citizens, and reduced air tickets and testing fees.
Wang Wenzhen formed the "New Crown Rescue Team" in May last year. At that time, he and other volunteers were serving medical staff in local hospitals in Indonesia. Since September last year, he has received a lot of messages from Chinese stranded in Indonesia about "difficulty returning to the country". In March this year, the problem of workers staying in Indonesia became more and more serious. Therefore, he decided to start the "new crown" in May this year. In the name of “Rescue Mission”, supplies and funds were collected for these stranded people.
Today, the "COVID-19 Rescue Team" has launched an online psychological counseling project, allowing free-of-charge psychological counselors to help the stranded people relieve their emotions. The "New Crown Rescue Mission" WeChat public account platform continues to accept requests for help from stranded Chinese compatriots. "Although what they can do is limited, the team will continue to do what they can." Wang Wenzhen told The Paper.
After Wang Lan and other five family members posted help messages through the WeChat public account, many Chinese workers who went to work in Indonesia added her WeChat account and asked about her and the workers to be repatriated. "I received some donations, but I saw that the donors were Chinese laborers in Indonesia, so I didn't accept them." Henan laborers and their families who went to work in Indonesia set up a WeChat group to share information on work rights protection and how to return home smoothly. , to cheer for the stranded people who are in poor mental condition.
"May all the workers who are displaced between borders for survival be well." Liu Yilong wrote on the Facebook platform on September 30.On the same day, he arrived at the Pekan Nana Immigration Bureau to learn about the situation of the detained Chinese workers, and began his work of providing legal assistance to workers and their families, which has continued to this day.
(At the request of the interviewee, Huang Guomeng, Li Junyang, Wang Tulong, Lin Senyu, A Jun, and Zhao Yaxin are pseudonyms, and some of the interviewed workers were not directly quoted in the report because they were worried about their own safety)
Responsible editor: Zhang Wuwei Photo editor: Shen Ke
Proofreading: Liu Wei
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