Every year after Idul Fitri, Jakarta and its surrounding cities get flooded by people from rural areas seeking new opportunities and better work. And every year, the big cities do what they can to discourage it.
This year, the satellite city of Bekasi has decided to try and keep laborers from entering the city after Idul Fitri by making the requirements for them to legally get a job much more difficult.
Specifically, the city’s Manpower Agency said it would not give letters of recommendations to people who did not already have Bekasi ID cards.
“We will only issue letters for Bekasi residents or those who have a declaration of domicile from subdistrict offices in Bekasi,” Sajekti Rubiah, Bekasi’s manpower placement head, said as quoted by Republika.
Letters of recommendaiton from the Manpower Agency is essential to gain legal employment for most jobs, making it extremely difficult for anybody from outside Bekasi to work anywhere but the informal sector. Sajekti said the policy was not only aimed at keeping newcomers out of the city, but also at protecting the jobs of existing residents.
