Workers want mandatory homecoming ruling scrapped<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former migrant workers and non-governmental organization (NGO)
\nactivists protested on Thursday, demanding that the Ministry of
\nManpower and Transmigration revoke a ministerial decree that
\nobligates workers to return to Indonesia before renewing their
\ncontracts.<\/p>\n
Article 66 of Ministerial Decree No. 104A\/2002 states that
\nworkers who intend to extend their overseas work contracts have
\nto return to Indonesia for at least 30 days.<\/p>\n
\"As a consequence, we have to renew our contracts through
\nPJTKI (migrant workers placement agencies), which regards us as
\nnew workers. So they cut our salary again for 7 months, which is
\nabout HK$21,000 (US$2,700),\" said Pegi, a former migrant worker.<\/p>\n
\"If we renew the contracts ourselves, on the other hand, like
\nworkers from the Philippines and Nepal do, through agents in Hong
\nKong, we only have to pay the agent HK$367,\" Pegi said.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, each contract must be validated by the
\nIndonesian Consulate, and the Consul would not legalize the
\ncontract unless the applicant first returns to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Nur Syafinah, another former migrant worker who worked in Hong
\nKong, added, \"Moreover, the rule works against Hong Kong's law on
\nworkers' days off, which states that workers are entitled to 14
\ndays off for one contract period.\"<\/p>\n
The disparity makes their employers, who do not want to wait
\n30 days for Indonesian workers to return to Hong Kong, to hire
\nother workers to fill the position. Under such circumstances, the
\nreturning workers have no choice but to register themselves as
\nnew workers and repeat the recruitment process through the PJTKI.<\/p>\n
The director for migrant workers at the manpower and
\ntransmigration ministry, Fifi Arianti, met the protesters at the
\nministry office, and explained that the article was included to
\nprotect the workers' rights to see their families in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We mean well; we don't want to see the family ties of migrant
\nworkers to be cut because they don't see each other much,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Fifi said manpower and transmigration minister Jacob Nuwa Wea
\nhad made it mandatory for workers to return to Indonesia instead
\nof granting them holiday leave, because he was concerned about
\nthe migrant workers' family unity. \"We don't want to be blamed
\nfor divorces occurring in migrant worker families,\" she said.<\/p>\n
However, she admitted that the ministry had not conducted any
\nsurveys on an increase in divorce rates among migrant worker
\nfamilies.<\/p>\n
She added that on April 7, the minister had sent a letter to
\nthe Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong, which included an
\namendment that workers in Hong Kong could extend their contracts
\nthrough agents other than the PJTKI.<\/p>\n
In response to the letter, Pegi said, \"We have to see if the
\nletter gives us more protection. We don't know yet, because there
\nmay be any loopholes in it. Well, let's wait and see.\"<\/p>\n
The protesters also deemed the ruling to be presumptuous in
\nclaiming that it was drafted to protect their rights to holidays.<\/p>\n
\"There are countless rights violations that have to be tackled
\nby the government regarding migrant workers, such as underpayment
\nand physical abuse,\" said one of the protesters.<\/p>\n
\"So why does the ministry choose to intervene in our family
\naffairs, saying that it wants to protect our rights?\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-want-mandatory-homecoming-ruling-scrapped-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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