How to protect migrant workers<\/p>\n
By Santo Koesoebjono<\/p>\n
WASSENAAR, Netherlands (JP): The need for skilled workers in
\nWestern European countries is regularly voiced in the media
\nthere. Decreasing birth rates, declining interest in certain
\nskilled jobs and continued economic expansion since the mid-1990s
\nare the main causes for the increased demand.<\/p>\n
Similar demand is also rising in the United States and in
\nEastern Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and
\nJapan.<\/p>\n
Companies and organizations in the private and public sectors
\nare assiduously searching for manpower across borders. Germany
\nrecently decided to recruit some 30,000 specialists in
\ninformation technology from countries outside the European Union.
\nTenfold this number is needed up to the year 2003. A survey
\ncarried out by the European Chamber of Commerce showed that 11
\npercent of interviewed enterprises were looking for new personnel
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
People in developing countries, lacking job opportunities and
\nreceiving low wages at home, become the target in this search.
\nIndonesia is not exempt. Numerous bona fide as well as obscure
\nagents see a chance to take part in this business and jump in to
\nmatch employers and job seekers.<\/p>\n
The demand and flow of all types of workers, from servants,
\nprostitutes to more skilled workers or professionals -- nurses,
\nmedical specialists and technicians -- keep growing.<\/p>\n
Therefore it is urgent that the Indonesian government
\nreinforce measures and regulations to control recruitment and
\nmediation to prevent abuses and a brain drain, and to guarantee
\nthe improvement of workers' skills and knowledge as an investment
\nin human resources.<\/p>\n
Three parties play a key role in this business of bridging the
\ninternational gap in demand and supply. The first and most
\nimportant party is the prospective workers, the main actors in
\ninternational labor migration.<\/p>\n
In this process, manpower intermediary agents, or the second
\nparty, will emerge and governments, the third party, will lose a
\npart of their human resources but will gain foreign currency. A
\nwin-win situation for all parties concerned should be aimed for.<\/p>\n
Lack of power and opportunity to break out of the cycle of
\npoverty and the desire to earn more has stimulated many to take
\nthe chance offered by agents to work abroad.<\/p>\n
Stories about higher income and better working and living
\nconditions abroad have tempted many to try their luck in a
\nforeign country. They hope to save money to realize their dreams
\nof helping family members, sending their children to school,
\nbuilding a house or starting a business back home. Success
\nstories about and from returning workers have concealed the true
\nreality of this business and prevent other interested workers
\nfrom seeing the risks involved.<\/p>\n
The first risk is the intermediary. Most prospective workers
\ndo not know whether they are dealing with bona fide or shady
\nagents. These workers are dependent on their agents in obtaining
\ninformation about living and working conditions, cultural
\ndifferences and practical knowledge of the language.<\/p>\n
The agents are obliged to prepare the workers to live and be
\nable to work in a new environment totally foreign to them. Unlike
\nchildren of the elite, these workers are not accompanied by their
\nmothers to their countries of destination!<\/p>\n
The agents provide services both to job seekers and employers.
\nIn a free market economy anybody can set up this kind of
\nbusiness. This intermediary agent may be an individual operating
\nalone or a group of individuals who operate under a certain legal
\nconstruct such as a foundation. The agent recruits the workers
\nand has the responsibility to give prospective workers basic
\ninformation and preparation before departure, and to send them to
\ntheir destinations.<\/p>\n
Two types of intermediaries can be noted. The first type takes
\na scrupulous and ethical approach at all stages of preparation,
\nprior to recruitment to the return of the workers after
\ncompleting their contracts.<\/p>\n
Usually they operate in a professional manner: they are honest
\nin informing potential employers about the quality of the
\nprospective workers, and they inform the workers about their
\nrights and obligations in the host country. They also know the
\nrequirements of the institutions or companies seeking workers. A
\nbona fide agency follows up and evaluates their activities in
\ncooperation with the institutions and companies employing the
\nforeign workers.<\/p>\n
The agency also listens to workers' experiences and supports
\nthem when problems arise. The ethical approach and transparent
\nsystematic working method form the basic difference with the
\nbroker (calo) method.<\/p>\n
The broker is the second type of intermediary, whose main
\ninterest is to make money as quick as possible. They do not mind
\noperating in an irresponsible and unethical manner. To them
\nfollowing ethical and legal rules is less important than giving
\nlip service and having a friendly relationship with officials,
\ndiplomats and members of the elite.<\/p>\n
They do not care what happens to the workers overseas. All
\nthey care about is getting back the money they have lent workers
\nwith huge interest. The workers' families will bear the brunt if
\nthe debt is not paid off.<\/p>\n
The calo supplies workers with different skill levels from
\nIndonesia and other countries to the Middle East, Western Europe
\nand Eastern Asia.<\/p>\n
The third party involved in this business are the governments
\nof the sending and receiving countries. Faced with an increasing
\ninflow of people with foreign educations, different work
\nexperiences and cultural backgrounds, and speaking foreign
\nlanguages, the receiving country should provide information and
\nformulate regulations to employ these workers.<\/p>\n
These regulations may set conditions and rules for the
\nduration of employment, qualifications required, language skills,
\nworking conditions and housing, as well as the duties and
\nresponsibilities of organizations\/companies employing these
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
More important is the position of the sending governments,
\nsuch as the Indonesian government. They should provide potential
\nlabor migrants with comprehensive information on working abroad,
\nincluding the risks and consequences.<\/p>\n
They also need to formulate and reinforce regulations to
\nprevent their citizens from being maltreated by agents and
\nemployers abroad. Failure to do so leads to abuse, death and
\nextortion, as evidenced by recurrent reports from labor migrants
\nfrom numerous countries, including Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Government officials sent to explore the situation abroad
\noften turn a blind eye. When confronted with problems they tend
\nto react in a bureaucratic manner and show a blame-the-victim
\nattitude.<\/p>\n
The government of the sending country also should be aware of
\nthe risk of a brain drain when it sends workers for temporary
\nemployment abroad. It is hard to believe that nurses, let alone
\nmedical specialists, are not scarce in a country such as
\nIndonesia. Specialists in the field of migration are aware that
\n\"nothing is more permanent than temporary workers\" in
\neconomically advanced host countries such as in Western Europe.<\/p>\n
This has been proven in almost 50 years of labor migration
\nflows. What to do if these workers do not return? An agreement
\nshould be reached between the sending and receiving countries and
\nthe organizations\/companies employing the workers. This agreement
\nshould include formal training for these workers provided or
\nfinanced by the employing organizations as part of the employment
\ncontract.<\/p>\n
Such training will upgrade the workers' knowledge and will
\ncontribute to the home country's human resources development.
\nThis approach is part of the development aid policy of developed
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
The sending abroad of temporary workers should be part of a
\nrotating system. Returning workers will be guaranteed a job
\nsuitable to their newly obtained qualifications and experience,
\nwhile another group of workers will be sent abroad.<\/p>\n
This system needs manpower planning, part of the overall
\nplanning at government institutions as well as the private
\nsector. Effective regulations can prevent the questionable
\npractices of obscure agencies. These regulations can also be
\napplied to officials and other concerned people who are easily
\nlured by bribes.<\/p>\n
Tragic stories of desperate job seekers working abroad are
\nnumerous. Striking accounts of ill-treatment, rape, putting women
\nto work in brothels and the disappearance of migrant workers have
\nfrequently been published.<\/p>\n
Such misfortunes were evidenced recently by the firing of two
\nIndonesian nurses from their jobs without reason and the tragic
\ndeath of another Indonesian nurse in the Netherlands. They were
\nthree of some 20 Indonesian nurses sent to the Netherlands by a
\nretired individual of Indonesian origin, who conducted this
\nactivity \"out of idealism\", to whom each of these nurses had to
\npay at least 6,000 guilders (approximately US$3,000).<\/p>\n
These nurses were told they would be able to save 1,000
\nguilders each month out of their gross monthly salary of 3,000
\nguilders. After taxes and social premiums were deducted, their
\nnet salaries were about 2,000 guilders. If these nurses lived as
\nmodestly as an average student, they would spend 1,500 guilders
\nper month for their living and housing expenses, leaving them 500
\nguilders for their savings. Just half of the illusion. Moreover,
\nthese nurses had no jobs awaiting them on their return to
\nIndonesia and no obligation to return.<\/p>\n
If the government claims that all possible measures have been
\ntaken to protect its workers, why do abuses still occur? For whom
\nthe cap fits, let him or her wear it!<\/p>\n
The writer is an economist-demographer based in the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>",
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