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Govt mulls resuming sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia
Migrant Worker Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding meets with President Prabowo Subianto on March 14 to talk about issues pertaining to Indonesian migrant workers abroad, including a plan to end a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia.
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Indonesian migrant workers repatriated from Myanmar wait for an airport transfer upon their arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Feb. 28, 2025. Eighty-four Indonesian migrant workers were repatriated from Myanmar through Thailand after they were found working in illegal cyber scam centers. (Antara/Putra M. Akbar)
T
he government is exploring the possibility of lifting its moratorium on sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia following a meeting between Migrant Worker Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding and President Prabowo Subianto on Friday.
The plan to lift the moratorium was one of two topics discussed during the meeting, the minister said.
“One of the topics was the establishment of a migrant worker protection desk. Another was a plan to resume cooperation with Saudi Arabia, which has been affected by the ongoing moratorium,” Karding said at the State Palace complex on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He did not elaborate on the plan, but conveyed his hope that the moratorium could be ended in the near future.
The minister also reasserted the government’s commitment to improving governance on migrant worker protection and reducing human trafficking and violence against Indonesians working abroad.
“The key is ensuring a procedural approach, because 95 percent of the problems arise from procedural issues. We also need to improve the skills of the workers,” Karding said.
Read also: Lawmakers consider amnesty for unregistered migrant workers
To address such issues, the minister said that the government planned to revise regulations, improve services and crack down on human trafficking rings. He also highlighted the importance of public awareness campaigns to educate people on safe and legal overseas employment.
The minister also stressed the importance of bilateral agreements with host countries: “If we ensure strong protection clauses in these agreements, we can safeguard our workers and prevent undocumented Indonesian citizens being sent overseas.”
On Thursday, Coordinating Politics and Security Minister Budi Gunawan announced the establishment of a migrant worker protection and human trafficking coordination desk, where multiple ministries and state institutions would coordinate on the issue.
The House of Representatives is also working to revise the 2017 Migrant Workers’ Protection Law to change the name of the government institution overseeing migrant workers’ protection from the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI) to the Migrant Workers Protection Ministry.
One of the issues deliberated in the law revision is a plan to protect unauthorized migrant workers from prosecution if they report their status to the government. The pardon would also be eligible for corporations sending workers abroad illegally under similar conditions.
