"The threats to the sovereignty of a state could be in the form of a military threat or a non-military threat. The presence of foreign workers is a non-military threat," Colonel Sudi Prihatin said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The influx of foreign workers in Indonesia poses a new threat to the countrys sovereignty, a Defense Ministry official has said.
"The threats to the sovereignty of a state could be in the form of a military threat or a non-military threat. The presence of foreign workers is a non-military threat," the head of the work environment sub-directorate of the state defense directorate of the Defense Ministry, Colonel Sudi Prihatin, said at a national seminar on the domino effect of the onslaught of foreign workers here on Tuesday.
In the modern era, most of the threats to state sovereignty are non-military in nature, such as bird flu, drug trafficking and spurious vaccines, he noted.
The threats are aimed at fooling the people of the country and to consequently hamper its development, he warned.
Commenting on the inflow of foreign workers in Indonesia, Sudi explained that the country cannot refuse them entry because they are part of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). However, the presence of foreign workers must be regulated so that they do not harm the local peoples interests or threaten the countrys sovereignty.
"We must control the number of foreign workers employed in Indonesia. They must have good capacity and employed at a managerial level. But it seems that some of the foreign workers were employed for low level jobs," he noted.
He recalled noticing on his flight from Jakarta to Manado that almost a quarter of the planes passengers comprised Chinese people.
"I am experienced enough to make a distinction between Chinese nationals and Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent, particularly from their appearance and the way they are dressed," he claimed. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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