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Indonesia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Indonesian students in Sulawesi continue protests against Chinese workers

  • The organisers are calling on the government to halt the workers’ arrivals and deport those already in the province
  • On Tuesday night, more than 100 people demonstrated at the Kendari airport and stopped cars leaving the area to look for workers from mainland China

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The protests against Chinese workers in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, started in March. Photo: Sulkarnain
Amy Chew
Indonesian students on the country’s eastern island of Sulawesi have kept up their protests against mainland Chinese workers, demonstrating late into Tuesday night against what they see as jobs being stolen from locals.

“We reject them because it was not done through the RPTKA [Foreign Workers Utilisation Plan] which is verified by the Manpower Ministry,” said Sulkarnain, the head of the Kendari branch of the Islamic Students Association, which organised the protests. “Therefore, we deem these foreign workers to be illegal.”

Sulkarnain, who goes by one name, added that the protesters wanted the government to stop the arrivals of Chinese workers, and for those already in Sulawesi to be deported.

About 100 students protested outside the airport at Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi province, and stopped cars leaving the area to look for Chinese workers.

Sulkarnain said more than 120 Chinese workers had arrived on Tuesday night, and were escorted from the airport by “fully armed” police and military personnel.

He said the protesters had no intention of harming the workers, but just wanted them to leave the country. “We will be planning more demonstrations next week,” he added.

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