The House of Representatives will likely revise the 2004 labor export and protection law immediately in a bid to help provide protection for migrant workers.
The deputy chairman of the House's Commission IX on labor, health and social affairs, Irgan Chairul Mahfiz, said his commission had agreed to revise the law as part of a total reform of Indonesia's labor export industry.
"There has to be a total reform of the labor placement and protection system, including investigating abuse cases implicating Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia and the Middle East," he said after a hearing with the chief of the National Agency for Labor Placement and Protection (BNP2TKI), Jumhur Hidayat, in Jakarta on Thursday.
Irgan declined to elaborate on the crucial issues that would be revised in the law. He however added the new law had to regulate on the position of the BNP2TKI and its main functions to avoid an overlap of tasks with the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.
"Therefore, the BNP2TKI must immediately convene with the manpower and transmigration minister, the coordinating public welfare minister and the President to resolve the ongoing problems caused by the dualism of authority in dealing with labor export," he said.
The BNP2TKI and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry are in involved in a conflict over the labor export authority and insurance policy, two areas of the industry that are prone to graft and extortion.
The commission's chairwoman, Ribka Tjiptaning from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said earlier this month the unproductive conflict between the two government agencies had resulted in relaxed labor export procedures and a flow of unskilled workers out of the country.
Jumhur acknowledged there were still many flaws in the law that needed immediate revision, especially controversial articles on protection policies.
"I hope that following the ammendment, there will be a *clarification* of the law. I also hope that the BNP2TKI is given stronger authority by the ammendment," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Meanwhile, Migrant Care, which provides advocacy for migrant workers abroad, said the law had to be totally revised because its content was not in line with its title.
"The law's title *stipulates* labor placement and protection but it regulates heavily labor exporters, the BNP2TKI and the ministry," Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah said.
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