T

he government said on Monday that the ban on migrant workers heading to Middle Eastern countries remained in place, and added that it would take action against those who breached the policy.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said the government would not lift the moratorium on sending housemaids to the Middle East until destination countries in the region signed a labor protection agreement with Indonesia. The moratorium has been effective since June 2011.

Speaking before hundreds of job seekers in Tasikmalaya, West Java on Monday about the sending abroad of qualified workers, he said the government would not issue working permits for those wanting to work in the Middle East. The government would also place harsh sanctions on labor exporters and unauthorized agencies supplying women workers to countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria and Jordan, the minister added.

“This is taken to protect workers. We’ve learned negotiations between Indonesia and respective countries in the region have been sluggish,” ministry spokesman Suhartono quoted the minister as saying.

Suhartono added that the minister had communicated the policy to labor exporters and relevant authorities, especially the Foreign Ministry, Indonesian embassies in the Middle East, regional administrations and the police.

Indonesia has sent between 3,000 and 5,000 workers, mostly women, to the Middle East. Other than the four countries on which the ban is imposed, the country has also supplied workers to United Arab Emirates, Oman and Lebanon.

However, despite the moratorium, many workers have illegally entered and worked in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and other countries in the region, with the sponsorship of unauthorized agencies.

At least five female workers — Satinah, Siti Zaenab, Aminah, Tursilawati and Darmawati — have been sentenced to death for various crimes in Saudi Arabia and are awaiting execution. Hundreds of workers in the region, mostly employed as domestic helpers, have been repatriated each year after escaping mistreatment in their workplace.

Suhartono said Muhaimin was disappointed with the little progress that had been achieved in ongoing labor protection negotiations with six destination countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a working visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, but no bilateral meeting was held with the Saudi leadership to talk about labor issues.

Deputy chairman of the Indonesian Labor Exporters Association (Apjati) Rusjdi Basalamah doubted the moratorium would be effective and said the government had shown little commitment to protecting migrant workers.

“Labor exporters will comply with the ban but the government should take harsh sanctions on travel agencies supplying illegal workers who are not trained,” he said.

He went on to say the government could no longer ban any citizens from making foreign trips and working wherever they wanted, as Indonesia had ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. “Such a ban will certainly worsen unemployment at home,” he said.

Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah criticized the ban as unproductive as the main problem behind the labor abuse issue was the government’s political commitment to protecting Indonesians abroad.

“This ban will solve one issue but raise others, such as unemployment and fierce competition in the Asian labor market,” she said.

She said the government’s main task was to end the slavery of Indonesian workers in the Middle East and to ensure governments there respected the relevant UN convention.

“Both the President and Muhaimin aren’t politically committed to protecting migrant workers, which can be seen by the absence of legal aid for the five women workers awaiting execution,” she said, adding there were 85 other Indonesians facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabian courts for crimes they could not be blamed for.