Govt to fly 1,750 migrant workers home

JAKARTA: The government will help 1,750 migrant workers leave the Middle East for their hometowns due to legal matters they are facing there, a minister says.

Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said Sunday 1,000 migrant workers would fly back home from Saudi Arabia and 750 from Kuwait on Nov. 9.

"I have talked with *national flag carrier* Garuda, the Transportation Ministry and the Coordinating Public Welfare Ministry regarding a plan to facilitate migrant workers as part of our responsibility to protect them," Muhaimin told Antara.

He said in the long run the government would require overseas-bound migrant workers to undergo 200 hours of basic training prior to their placement. The government will withdraw the license of labor supplying companies that fail to provide the training, Muhaimin added.

"The procedure will be tightened, particularly the final preparation for placement overseas. No worker will be allowed to leave the country without passing a mental test to overcome problems they may face in foreign countries." - JP