Pregnancy tests urged for migrants<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Indonesian migrant worker activist Normawati has proposed to the
\ngovernment and migrant workers recruitment agencies to make it
\nmandatory for workers to use contraceptives and to take a urine
\ntest in an effort to minimize the number of women workers getting
\npregnant while working abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Besides teaching them domestic work, the agencies must also
\nteach workers about the use of cotraceptives to prevent
\npregnancy,\" she said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
She added that returning migrant workers should undergo a
\npregnancy test.<\/p>\n
Normawati estimated that on average 20 women workers returned
\nhome with babies each month from the Middle East. The number,
\nmonitored since January, did not include those who got pregnant
\nwhile working there.<\/p>\n
Every day, between 800 and 1,000 workers arrive at the
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng while the
\nnumber of workers leaving is between 1,600 and 3,000 people a
\nday.<\/p>\n
\"Those workers got pregnant mostly because they were raped by
\ntheir employers,\" she said. \"However, there are some who get
\nmoney from their employers to have sex.\"<\/p>\n
Normawati regretted that the government has done nothing to
\nhelp the workers.<\/p>\n
\"The government does not do anything to help either the
\nmothers or the children although it collects Rp 25,000 (US$2.8)
\nfrom each returning worker,\" she said. \"Why does the government
\nchose to spend Rp 33 billion to renovate the Ministry of Manpower
\nand Transmigration training center in Ciracas (East Jakarta) to
\nreplace the airport's terminal III?\"<\/p>\n
According to Normawati, many workers handed over their babies
\nto orphanages for adoption because they could not bear the shame.<\/p>\n
Some six million migrant workers are working as domestic
\nhelpers and laborers in 16 countries. Indonesia is the second
\nlargest exporter of labor after the Philippines which sends
\naround 10 million workers overseas.<\/p>\n
The workers contributed US$1.86 billion to Indonesia's foreign
\nexchange, a decrease from 2002's $2.3 billion. This year, the
\ngovernment expects a $5 billion contribution from the workers.<\/p>\n
\"Migrant workers are the second contributor after oil and gas
\nto the country's foreign exchange reserves. Why doesn't the
\ngovernment give them adequate protection?\" Normawati said.<\/p>\n
The government has submitted a bill on labor protection to the
\nHouse of Representatives and appointed manpower minister Jacob
\nNuwa Wea as its representative during the bill's deliberation.
\nThe bill is expected to be endorsed in September.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pregnancy-tests-urged-for-migrants-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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