Cooperation for migrant workers vital<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government called on Wednesday for close
\ncooperation to protect its migrant workers in host countries.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea told
\nthe envoys of 11 countries that hosted Indonesian workers that
\njoint action was needed to curb illegal labor trafficking and the
\nrecruitment of unqualified workers.<\/p>\n
Jacob urged host countries not to easily grant employment
\nvisas without informing his ministry so as to avoid illicit
\npractices by labor exporting agents, including the fabrication of
\nworker documentation.<\/p>\n
\"This move will ensure tight screening so only eligible
\nworkers will be sent to the host countries, because there are
\nmany illegal or individual embarkations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The dialog, facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
\nwas attended by representatives of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei,
\nJapan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
\nKuwait, Jordan, Qatar and Oman.<\/p>\n
The briefing followed a row over Malaysia's plan last month to
\nexpel half of the 900,000 registered workers from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Jacob suggested that each of the recipient countries form an
\nassociation of foreign workers and provide insurance for them.
\nThese measures, he said, would ease the workload of both the host
\ngovernments and Indonesian embassies in monitoring the migrant
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
Jacob, who has just returned from a trip to Kuwait and the
\nUAE, said that in certain countries, the local policies of
\nemploying foreign workers had sparked an increase in the number
\nof unregistered workers.<\/p>\n
Such policies, he added, allowed companies that hired
\nIndonesian workers to treat the workers as trainees with poor
\nwages of only around one-third of the salaries paid to domestic
\nworkers of the same level.<\/p>\n
\"If other companies in that country offer them higher
\nsalaries, the workers will automatically move and work without
\ncontracts,\" Jacob said.<\/p>\n
Later in the evening, the Solidaritas Perempuan non-
\ngovernmental organization met with Jacob for talks on rampant
\nillegal trafficking of Indonesian migrant workers.<\/p>\n
The NGO activists brought with them 16-year-old Mella
\nWindasari, who has been crippled since being abused while working
\nas a housemaid with four different employers in Pakistan two
\nyears ago. She had been promised by her agent that she would be
\ngiven a job in a Kuwaiti factory.<\/p>\n
To obtain a passport for her, the agent falsified her data,
\nsaying that she was a 27-year-old widow.<\/p>\n
Solidaritas' program coordinator Salma Safitri asked the
\nministry to provide access to health facility here fro injured
\nand maimed returning migrant workers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cooperation-for-migrant-workers-vital-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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