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Migrant workers still waiting for change: NGO
Migrant workers say they have seen no major changes in the way labor export works in the country, despite recent government measures to improve migrant protections
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igrant workers say they have seen no major changes in the way labor export works in the country, despite recent government measures to improve migrant protections.
The government had vowed to improve conditions for migrant workers before their departure and during their employment abroad.
Indriati binti Kahar, a 38-year-old from Sukabumi, West Java, who was hoping to work as domestic
worker in Saudi Arabia for a third time, told The Jakarta Post that she and fellow workers were participating in a 200-hour training and had provided all necessary documents to meet legal requirements, but they had lingering doubts about their employment and protection in the workplace.
Indriati was among dozens who were at a PT Paramita Abadi in-house training in East Jakarta this month.
Migrant workers and labor supply company staffers said labor export mechanisms were the same as before, without any significant breakthroughs.
A PT Aulia Bersaudara labor supply company employee, who requested anonymity, said they still had to struggle with red tape and pay fees to government officials when they applied for documents at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, for passports at the immigration office, when workers were undergoing medical checks and when their documents were verified.
The government promised to improve the process following the widespread media coverage of two abuse victims, Sumiati binti Kaslan Mustafa from West Nusa Tenggara and Kikim Komalasari from Cianjur, West Java.
Association of Labor Export Companies (Apjati) deputy chair Rusjdi Basalamah said the government should not blame abuse abroad solely on the companies that send workers abroad because the government was also responsible for monitoring its citizens. If there was anything wrong, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Overseas Labor (BNP2TKI) should also be held responsible, he said.
“Apjati will support the government if it decides to close down labor supply companies that fail to meet all operating requirements and will support the government in the reform of the BNP2TKI, which has been found to be unprofessional in providing protection for workers,” Rusjadi said
He said the Foreign Ministry and foreign embassies should provide protection for workers during their employment, for which every migrant worker paid US$15 to the government prior to their departure.
Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah denounced the government’s series of measures as superficial, and said the government had failed to identify the main problems for migrant laborers.
“The government has to change its mindset and revise the 2004 labor placement and protection law and reform the bureaucracy because our main problem has been the rampant abuse of domestic workers and the disrespect of workers’ rights,” Anis said.
She said abuse would continue to remain high in 2011 unless a major reform in the migrant labor process was effected.
