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Govt demands change in migrant worker placement business
As the government revamps an agency to reshape the future of migrant labor, it is urging private placement companies to follow suit by changing the way they operate
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span>As the government revamps an agency to reshape the future of migrant labor, it is urging private placement companies to follow suit by changing the way they operate.
The government recently announced that it would restructure the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) to focus more on protection-oriented operations, a shift in approach from a probusiness perspective as mandated by the 2017 law on migrant worker protection.
The organization will be renamed the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI) and its role in worker placement will be included in three major protection tasks before, during and after people work overseas.
BNP2TKI acting head Tatang Razak said the proper placement of workers was an important part of protection that should be accomplished with selective steps. “The goal is to conduct safe migration [by] examining the job sectors, the [targeted recipient] countries and the type of job.”
Currently, migrant labor placement is also performed by private placement companies called the P3MI under the auspices of the BNP2TKI.
The role of these companies, Tatang said, should change in accordance with the government's ambition to seek new sectors of employment abroad and to increase the distribution of more skilled and professional workers — which is part of efforts to reform the migrant labor industry.
The agency’s data shows that domestic workers still top the list of preferred professions for Indonesian migrant workers. In 2019, there were 80,762 domestic migrant workers, although the number has decline from the previous year. It also shows an increase in the departure of workers in more skilled professions, such as caregivers, operators, hydraulic technicians and construction workers.
According to Tatang, several companies have already shifted to sending more professional workers. “However, others sent workers illegally to countries that Indonesia already has moratoriums with. These [private placement agencies] need to be disciplined.”
Ahead of the BNP2TKI restructuring, the role of placement companies will remain important as long as they phase out the scouting of placements for low-skilled jobs, he said.
The government is set to roll out strategies that advocate the needs of workers, including a plan to replicate a direct hiring scheme for Indonesians — now in place in Taiwan — elsewhere to reduce overcharging, one issue that hinders Indonesian workers from securing placement overseas.
“The government has set Rp 17 million [US$1,239.6] for placement cost. But, there are still workers who are asked to pay more, Rp 60 million and even Rp 80 million,” Tatang said. “All P3MIs must obey the cost structure [set by the government] so that they will not put the burden on workers due to overcharging.”
He found that many of the hiring companies overseas also preferred to use foreign placement agents as an addition to service provided by the P3MIs — another reason for the costly placement.
Association of Labor Export Companies (Apjati) chairman Ayub Basalamah said the association welcomed the idea of revamping the BNP2TKI and the placement system, promising to always obey the 2017 law.
“We also have plans to upgrade our migrant laborers,” Ayub said, adding that Apjati had been seeking placements in Japan, China, Poland, Qatar and other countries that need professional workers.
The BNP2TKI estimates that about 6 million Indonesians worked overseas last year, equivalent to nearly 5 percent of the country’s total workforce. Together they sent $11 billion back to Indonesia in remittances last year.
Lawmaker Christina Aryani said equipping migrant workers with skills was essential to increase their bargaining position and to earn higher incomes.
She also urged that pending government regulations be completed immediately to support the protection and placement of migrant workers, particularly since the two-year deadline to issue these regulations had expired.
“Not all supporting regulations are in place yet,” Christina said.
