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RI migrant workers report extortion to President Jokowi
Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) in Taiwan reported extortion practices they had suffered from during work recruitment and placement processes to President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo during a teleconference on Sunday
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ndonesian migrant workers (TKI) in Taiwan reported extortion practices they had suffered from during work recruitment and placement processes to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo during a teleconference on Sunday.
'The work placement fees can reach up to three times the official fees,' Syamsudin, a member of the Indonesian Migrant Workers' Association in Taiwan, said during the dialogue with Jokowi as quoted by Antara news agency on Sunday.
He explained that while the official fee for work placement in Taiwan was set at around Rp 18.4 million [US$1,501.50], workers had been in many cases told to pay up to Rp 50 million to Rp 60 million per person.
Syamsudin said that he had lodged a complaint regarding the matter with the Indonesian Economics and Trade Office in Taiwan, but received an unsatisfactory response.
Other complaints submitted by Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan during the dialogue included difficulties in making insurance claims, excessive working hours, as well as a lack of days off for domestic helpers, which frequently led workers to flee from their employers' houses.
Indonesian sailors working in Taiwan also conveyed their problems during the teleconference, saying that many sailors were working in the country on tourist visas and that many of those employed in the fishing industry were not paid overtime despite working almost 24 hours a day.
Heeding the complaints, the recently inaugurated head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Nusron Wahid, vowed to stamp out extortion practices affecting workers in Taiwan within a month.
Over 40 Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan took part in the teleconference, in which other migrant workers stationed in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong and South Korea also participated.
Manpower Minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi also took part in the conference. (dyl/ebf)(+++)
