TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Immigration office boosts protection of prospective migrant workers
Change Size
T
he Directorate General of Immigration has boosted its supervision over the issuance of passports and flight documents for prospective migrant workers (“CTKI”). This marks a breakthrough by the directorate in support of the work of the Manpower Ministry and the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) to protect CTKI, a program the ministry and the agency started in January 2017.
The policy is aimed at strengthening the joint work in the One-door Service (LTSP) program established by the BNP2TKI in cooperation with the administrations of regencies and cities many CTKI hail from.
The same activity is also found at the Public Service Mall established by the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. The ‘mall’ merges immigration services, especially the issuance of passports, and other services, including those provided by the BNP2TKI, the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS) and the National Police, related to migrant workers.
The following strategic policies are in place:
- Providing protection for prospective migrant workers from human trafficking syndicates by anticipating or intercepting applicants applying for passports for working abroad without following proper recruitment procedures.
Immigration Office officials will postpone the issuance of passports for non-procedural CTKI without the knowledge of the Manpower Ministry/BNP2TKI/manpower offices of provinces/regencies/towns.
The prospective migrant workers will then be handed over to the local manpower office or BP3TKI in the region. They will be required to fill in documents and complete other recruitment requirements.
- Protection of CTKI continues after they receive their passports, as they don’t have their work visa yet and exploit loopholes arising from the free-visa visit (BVK) policy effective in ASEAN countries, notably to Malaysia; umrah and pilgrimage visa (usually to the Middle East); or internship visa (usually to Japan).
Immigration officials will postpone the non-procedural prospective migrant workers’ departure and hold them at the airport’s Immigration Inspection Office (TPI), at the seaports and at the Cross-Border Posts, like Entikong, Aruk and Nanga Badau in West Kalimantan and Nunukan in North Kalimantan. Next, they will be handed over to the regional manpower office or BP3TKI, where their cases will be followed up according to proper procedures.
In 2017, the Directorate General of Immigration took the following actions:
- Postpone the issuance of 5,960 passports for non-procedural CTKI
- Postpone the departure of 1,016 non-procedural prospective migrant workers.
As of April 2018, the office has performed the following:
- Postpone the issuance of 1,833 passports for non-procedural CTKI; and
- Postpone the departure of 71 non-procedural CTKI to other countries.
These efforts reflect the concern of the Directorate General of Immigration through its 125 immigration offices across the country for the protection and welfare of the migrant workers. This also clearly demonstrates that the state is there for them prior to their leaving the country.
These preventive efforts require synergy and comprehensive cooperation involving various ministries and agencies. The measures should lead to more efforts of enforcing the law and putting a lid on international human trafficking, which many Indonesian migrant workers have fallen victim to.
The country needs immigration officials of integrity, who understand the role they play in the protection of human rights to ensure the success of the two actions mentioned above. Prospective migrant workers heading overseas are susceptible to the lure or pressure from human trafficking syndicates. A related crime is the smuggling of migrant workers abroad (people smugling).
These efforts to protect prospective migrant workers have helped the Foreign Affairs Ministry, as they contributed to minimizing the number of problems pertaining to Indonesians working abroad throughout 2017. The number of cases has reportedly dropped compared to previous years.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry awarded the Directorate General of Immigration with the HASSAN WIRAYUDA AWARD 2017 for the efforts the directorate general made to protect our migrant workers. The ministry acknowledged the efforts by the Directorate General of Immigration to protect the migrant workers and to reduce the number of cases of human trafficking to other countries throughout 2017.
Note: Agung Sampurno, head of PR and the General Affairs Department of the Directorate General of Immigration, is the spokesperson of this report.
