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Indonesia to lift ban on sending workers to Saudi, expecting 600,000 jobs
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Indonesian migrant workers board a bus on March 15, 2023, in Padang, West Sumatra. Some 100 women migrant workers from the province and neighboring Jambi, Riau and South Sumatra departed for Malaysia. (Antara/Iggoy el Fitra)
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ndonesia is set to lift a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia, expecting it to offer 600,000 job opportunities mostly for domestic workers that could contribute to around Rp 31 trillion (US$1.89 billion) in foreign exchange earnings.
Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding said on Sunday that the decision to lift the ten-year-old ban came after a meeting between him and President Prabowo Subianto at the Palace on Friday.
“The moratorium lifting is set to take place in March, God willing on the 20th if there’s no hurdle,” Karding said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Karding said that after lifting the ban, the government is expected to send 600,000 Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia graudally starting as early as June of this year, comprising 400,000 domestic workers and 200,000 skilled laborers – although he did not describe what kind of skilled employment would be available.
"The potential foreign exchange earnings will be Rp 31 trillion [...] if we can send 600,000 workers," Karding said on Friday, as quoted from a video statement.
Karding said that the moratorium failed to prevent more than 25,000 unauthorized Indonesian workers from entering Saudi each year.
Indonesia first issued a moratorium for sending workers to Saudi in 2011, which lasted until 2014.
