Speaking to journalists at an event at the agency’s office in Jakarta on Thursday, Nusron emphasized the importance of migrant workers registering. He said that using legal avenues to work abroad offered better protect against exploitation.

“Please use legal avenues so that the government, the BNP2TKI, the Foreign Ministry and Indonesian embassies can monitor the workers closely and comprehensively so they can move quickly to provide protection if something happens,” Nusron said.

Nusron said that Siti Aisyah, an Indonesian citizen detained by the Royal Malaysian Police in Kuala Lumpur in connection to the killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother, was not registered with the agency as an Indonesian migrant worker.

“Still, she is an Indonesian citizen who works abroad. Legal or illegal, the Indonesian government has a responsibility to protect its citizens,” he said.

Arrested on Feb. 13, Siti, 25, was accused of being involved in the death of Kim Jong-nam.

Nusron said that basically anyone working abroad was a migrant worker, but they needed to be listed on the BNP2TKI information system.

“So the government knows what their jobs are, where they work, what they’re doing, when they went abroad and with whom. The information system is important for Indonesian embassies to be able to monitor them.” (dis/ebf)

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