The Manpower Ministry has announced that it will reopen the recruitment and placement of Indonesian migrant workers in a bid to strengthen the country’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 20, the ministry issued a regulation to temporarily halt the placement of migrant workers in foreign countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new ministerial regulation, issued on July 29, lifts the restriction. “To accelerate the recovery of the national economy and seeing that several countries have also reopened to foreign workers, it is necessary for us to also reopen the opportunity for our migrant workers to work in destination countries,” Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com. Labor migration offers employment prospects for many who would have little chance of finding a job at home and therefore helps to relieve unemployment ...