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espite disruptions to labor agreements last year, Indonesians working abroad managed to send home US$6.1 billion in 2011. Some argue that this figure is too small to be ignored, and challenge the government to step up its efforts to protect the safety of its citizens working abroad.

Anis Hidayah, executive director of MigrantCare, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) focused on workers’ rights, repeated the call in response to the remittances the migrant workers sent home.

Malaysia’s news agency Bernama reported that Indonesian migrant workers had sent home a whopping $6.1 billion between January and November last year, with $2.1 billion remitted from Malaysia during the period.

The figures recorded by Bank Indonesia do not include money sent directly by workers or via non-bank institutions that are not registered by the central bank.

Indonesia’s Manpower Employment, Settlement and Protection National Body director Baslian Krisnayoza said the $6.1 billion was remitted by Indonesians working in Australia, America, European, Asian and African countries.

Cash remittances from Asia alone totaled $3.5 billion. They were $2.1 billion from Malaysia; Taiwan ($448 million); Hong Kong ($441 million); Singapore ($238 million); Japan ($146 million), South Korea ($85 million); Brunei ($53 million), Macao ($38 million) and other countries ($2.69 billion), he said.

Krisnayoza said remittances from Africa and Middle East countries amounted to $2.4 billion, with the major portion of the money — $2 billion — sent from Saudi Arabia; America ($129 million); and Australia and Europe ($22.3 million).

“However, the total $6.1 billion sent home in 2011 was less than the $6.7 billion remitted in 2010,” he said.

Migrant Care’s Anis said that the government never cared about Indonesian migrant workers, just the money they sent home.

“The government can provide the exact figure of cash remittances our migrant workers send home or other numbers when it comes to money. However, it won’t be able to give similar precision when it comes to the number of Indonesian migrant workers and their condition, or which of the workers are in need of immediate help,” she said on Sunday.

Anis added that the huge amount of cash sent home by Indonesian migrant workers every year was contradictory to the poor treatment they had received.

“The government is obliged to protect all migrant workers no matter what, with or without their financial contribution,” said Anis.

She demanded the government to be fully responsive to all Indonesian workers abroad because it had a responsibility after encouraging more Indonesians to work abroad.

“The government keeps encouraging people to work as maids abroad because they know very well about the huge amounts of money these people will bring home. Protect these people. Don’t focus only on the money. Be responsible,” she said.

On its year-end review, Migrant Care reported that 32 migrant workers were on death row, while hundreds of others could face the death penalty, a plight that it blamed on government inaction.

The NGO found that of the 32 migrant workers on death row, 17 were in Malaysia, nine in China, and five in Saudi Arabia.

A further 417 migrant workers could also face the death penalty: 348 in Malaysia, 45 in Saudi Arabia, 22 in China, and two in Singapore. (msa)