Protesters pelt Malaysian embassy with eggs over Indonesian migrant worker shooting

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Dozens of Indonesians, angered over the fatal shooting of an Indonesian migrant worker in neighboring waters, threw eggs on Thursday at the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia’s capital.

A 50-year-old migrant worker was shot dead and four others wounded on Jan. 24 after the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, or APMM, opened fire on their boat for alleged trespassing in the waters off Tanjung Rhu Beach in Selangor state.

Indonesian authorities in Riau province on Wednesday received the man’s body.

Nearly 100 demonstrators from various rights groups and labor unions gathered Thursday outside the embassy, on a major street in downtown Jakarta. Eggs covered the state symbol of Malaysia at the mission’s gate, and the building itself appeared to have egg stains and cracked shells on it.

Protesters held signs saying, “Prosecute and jail Malaysian police who shot dead Indonesian migrant worker.”

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Jan. 25, a day after the incident, that the fatal shooting occurred as the five Indonesians were attempting to leave Malaysia illegally. The ministry has since demanded a thorough investigation, specifically into the possible use of excessive force by the APMM.

The shooting caused a national outcry in Indonesia after a video from one of the victims went viral on social media last week. It showed several Indonesian migrants slumped with gunshot wounds near a boat. Their faces also look pale from holding back the pain next to the body of a colleague.

The incident was just another in a long list of deaths among Indonesian migrant workers allegedly at the hands of Malaysian authorities, said Wahyu Susilo, executive director of Migrant Care, an advocacy group for Indonesian migrant workers.

Migrant Care said its records showed at least 75 such killings since 2005. The group urged Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto not to turn a blind eye to migrant deaths for fear of straining relations with Kuala Lumpur.

Subianto on a recent visit to Malaysia promised to work together with the Malaysian government to solve problems surrounding migrant workers.

“We will resolve our bilateral issues, including those surrounding manpower. We have agreed to increase cooperation in all sectors,” Subianto said in a joint statement with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, during his state-

visit on Monday, just three days after the fatal shooting in Selangor.