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gain and again Indonesians have been deported from Saudi Arabia for overstaying their visas, with most of them being migrant workers. Over the last few days, the Indonesian government has started repatriating 8,000 of the more than 73,000 citizens who are being expelled from the oil-rich country after an amnesty expired last week.

That the government has to bring the citizens back home is simply part of its constitutional responsibility to protect its people no matter where they are. But the fact that deportations are becoming frequent occurrences shows that something must be wrong with the process of sending the people overseas in the first place.

It could be that labor exporting agencies at home are failing to educate migrant workers about the need to comply with the law in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, as in the case of many migrant workers who hail from impoverished West Nusa Tenggara villages. The migrant workers themselves could be the problem for deliberately extending their stays for jobs, albeit without proper documents.

But the government cannot wash its hands of the mess, let alone sweep the acute problem under the carpet, because national dignity is at stake. No matter how it is viewed, deportation results in humiliation, unless we ignore the TV footage of thousands of Indonesian overstayers waiting for deportation milling under an overpass just near the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah last week.

In the US, for example, deportation is mandatory for non-citizens convicted of crimes, who are then blacklisted from ever reentering the country. In Saudi Arabia, a similar principle applies, meaning that Indonesian deportees are blacklisted and prevented from reentering the Middle East kingdom.

The Saudi government is getting tough on migrant workers because they are blamed for an increasing unemployment rate, which has exceeded 12.5 percent. It introduced a new labor regulation as part of efforts to create jobs for citizens, at the expense of foreign workers.

There is not much Indonesia can do but respect the Saudi government'€™s tightening labor policy. First and foremost the government has to ensure that all the deportees return to their respective homes safely, regardless of their breach of the law and the cost of their repatriation, which will be covered by taxpayers'€™ money.

The most challenging homework will be to prevent Indonesian citizens from being deported in the future. All relevant government institutions, in particular the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, need to make more of an effort to educate migrant workers about applicable laws and regulations in Saudi Arabia and other receiving countries, as well as about their rights and responsibilities. The migrant workers are very vulnerable not only to abuse but also to irresponsible labor brokers who steer them into illegal employment.

However, there is no other final solution than to provide them with decent jobs at home, which looks unlikely under present circumstances.