W

orking as a domestic helper abroad has been a promising profession for many Indonesians as it offers better wages and prestige. Besides, the workers also contribute a great deal to the welfare of their families back home — and foreign exchange to the government.

However, instead of providing more comprehensive protection to the foreign exchange heroes or heroines and their families, the government has decided to stop them from working abroad in the informal sector for the sake of “pride and dignity”.

After banning the sending of informal migrant workers to the Middle East in mid-2015, the government now plans to limit the sending of informal workers to the Asia-Pacific region by next year.

The Manpower Ministry’s director general for workers’ training and planning, Hery Sudarmanto, said on Wednesday that the government was discussing the idea and would implement it only after there was a legal basis for the limitation.

“We won’t totally stop migrant workers seeking jobs in other countries. We will only regulate the positions they can take, so that there will be no more Indonesians working as maids abroad,” Hery said, adding that the decision was part of the government’s road map of zero domestic helpers working abroad.

Migrant workers will be only allowed to take certain positions, such as cooks, nannies and gardeners, so that they have clear tasks, salaries and work hours. The ministry will provide training for them on job descriptions before they go abroad.

“We only want to make our standards higher so that we can compete with other countries,” Hery said.

He added that the government would require other countries to provide clear information about how many workers they needed from Indonesia and for what positions. The information will be published on a website and displayed at regional administration offices so that people can access it.

The government will add the provisions to amendments to Law No. 39/2004 on the protection of migrant workers so there will be a legal basis.

Currently, Article 81, Point 1 of the law stipulates that the government can stop or ban the sending of migrant workers for certain sectors as long as it is for the protection of the workers or to ensure the distribution of job opportunities. Government Regulation No. 3/2013 on the protection of migrant workers abroad also mentions banning the sending of migrant workers to certain countries for particular sectors.

Hery further said clear information on job opportunities abroad and the required procedures would help reduce the number of illegal migrant workers. “The government cannot prohibit people from seeking jobs abroad, but we can at least protect them by providing better options in positions and clear information,” he added.

Meanwhile, rights group Migrant Care policy analyst Wahyu Susilo said such a plan was not enough to protect migrant workers abroad, who often faced mistreatment by their employers. Moreover, the Constitution states that the government has no right to ban people’s right to work abroad.

“The plan is good, but to make it perfect, the government needs to recognize domestic workers as formal workers by ratifying ILO [International Labor Organization] Convention 189 on decent work for domestic workers,” Wahyu said.

If the government turns a blind eye to the matter, he added, workers could be more vulnerable. In addition, it was ironic that the government was considering closing the door to Indonesians working abroad in the new era of the ASEAN Economic Community, he said
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