
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Thousands of migrant workers could not leave the country to start new jobs due to long delays in passport processing at the special immigration unit in Cikokol, Tangerang municipality.
The delays forced some migrant worker agencies (PJTKI) to postpone departures to several Middle Eastern countries, throwing workers' jobs into further uncertainty.
Migrants workers claimed they had been waiting for their passports at the office since Friday.
Yanti, a would-be migrant worker, said she was confused by immigration officers' request that she be photographed a second time.
"The officers took my picture last week, but claimed they lost my file, which was being processed under the new system," the 22-year-old worker from Sukabumi, West Java, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The delay means she and her friends will have to pay more to the PJTKI to cover the cost of accommodations, she added.
Darsih, 19, another migrant worker, from East Nusa Tenggara, said she had been scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, but was still waiting in line for her passport Thursday.
"I've been waiting here since Friday, but don't know how long I have to wait before my passport gets printed," she added.
Immigration officers, seen busily attending to their duties before the new system took effect Monday, appeared confused and at a standstill, while passport application forms piled up around them.
Several officers said they could nothing as they waited to transition to the new system.
Head of the Cikokol immigration office Tamsil Yakub said the directorate of immigration implemented the new system, called the Travel Document Publication System of the Republic of Indonesia (SPSPRI), to replace the older, outdated Biometrics-Based Integrated Photo System (SPTBB).
"SPTBB was based on finger print recognition. We could process passports as soon as the applications were submitted," he said, adding the process used to be on a first come, first served basis.
"The new system is based on facial recognition, requiring applicants to wait in line longer. Also, our existing equipment could not support the new system," he added.
Passport processing at the office will be delayed until the new system is fully integrated.
Tamsil refused to answer when things would get better for the workers, saying the journalists should have been grateful he was willing to meet them.
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