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Immigration office denies departure of 12 migrant workers to Saudi Arabia
Immigration authorities at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport denied the departure of 12 Indonesians to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday evening because of the country’s moratorium on sending workers to Middle-Eastern countries.
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Airport staffers check luggage belonging to passengers at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten on Aug. 9. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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mmigration authorities at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport denied the departure of 12 Indonesians to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday evening because of the country’s moratorium on sending workers to Middle-Eastern countries.
“These people admitted that they were leaving to work as nurses and midwives in Riyadh, but they only had visiting visas,” Heru Santoso, the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s immigration directorate general spokesperson, told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Thursday.
Besides visa problems, the migrants also didn’t have the necessary documents from the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) and the Manpower Ministry.
“We have not allowed them to leave because there is still a moratorium on sending our workers to the Middle East,” Heru said.
The 12 Indonesians were scheduled to fly to Riyadh on Etihad Airways.
Indonesia implements restrictions on migrants who want to work in 21 Middle-Eastern and African countries including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, South Sudan, Syria and Jordan.
The placement of Indonesian workers in these areas is considered a form of human trafficking, given the poor and brutal treatment they often receive in the Middle-East and North Africa. It has been reported that the bargaining position of Indonesian workers in those countries is weak, and they receive very low wages for long working hours. (dmr)
