TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
COVID-19: Govt must ensure well-being of returning migrant workers, advocacy group says
At least 32,192 Indonesian migrant workers have so far returned to Indonesia from several countries affected by the potentially life-threatening respiratory illness.
Change Size
Arriving passengers pass by a thermal scanner set up by the Port Health Office (KKP) at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, on Jan. 22. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
T
he Indonesian government should prioritize "human rights principles" in its handling of the tens of thousands of migrant workers returning to the country because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, labor rights advocacy group Migrant CARE has said.
"The government must ensure the workers and their family members receive financial aid, such as through the cash-transfer scheme," the group's executive director Wahyu Susilo said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added that authorities should place the returning migrant workers in quarantine either under the people under surveillance (ODP) or patients under treatment (PDP) categories to reduce the risk of further coronavirus transmission in the country.
ODP is the government’s classification for people who have recently traveled to infected regions or have come in contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, but do not show any symptoms. The PDP status is given to people who already show symptoms typical of COVID-19 and are under medical care, but whose status needs to be confirmed through a test.
Coordination between the central government and regional administrations must be intensified to further monitor the inbound workers, Wahyu underlined.
At least 32,192 Indonesian migrant workers have so far returned to Indonesia from several countries affected by the potentially life-threatening respiratory illness, Antara news agency reported.
According to the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI), some 11,566 workers have returned from Malaysia, 9,075 from Hong Kong, 5,487 from Taiwan, 2,799 from Singapore, 889 from Brunei Darussalam, 888 from Saudi Arabia, 756 from South Korea, 641 from Italy, 46 from Japan and 45 from the United States.
