Deputy Minister P2MI encourages universities to build Migrant Centers
Surabaya (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (Wamen P2MI) Dzulfikar Ahmad Tawalla is encouraging universities in Indonesia to build Migrant Centers to prepare competent migrant workers and meet the demand for formal labour abroad.
Dzulfikar, at the inauguration of the Migrant Center at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surabaya (Umsura) on Saturday, said the government is pushing for the development of Migrant Centers at more universities as part of efforts to strengthen the formal placement ecosystem for Indonesian migrant workers.
“We have just held a meeting with around 23 universities regarding the development of this facility,” he said.
According to him, a number of public and private universities already have similar facilities, including Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta, Universitas Hasanuddin, and Universitas Lambung Mangkurat.
“Of those whose facilities are more or less similar to what Umsura has, there are around eight campuses,” he said.
He expressed hope that more universities will have Migrant Centers so that the demand for formal labour abroad can be met by human resources who have received proper preparation.
“We hope that in the future there will be more, so that the government’s efforts, currently led by President Prabowo Subianto, to improve the formal placement ecosystem can be realised and achieved soon,” said Dzulfikar.
Meanwhile, Umsura Rector Prof Mundakir said the Migrant Center programme is not only intended for Umsura students.
Going forward, the university will cooperate with secondary schools, particularly senior high schools (SMA) and vocational high schools (SMK), to recruit prospective participants.
“Because this is part of the Go Global vocational programme, we will cooperate with SMK and SMA, especially SMK and SMA graduates, to immediately register for this programme,” said Prof Mundakir.
The programme is also open to Diploma 3 (D3) and Bachelor’s degree (S1) graduates, especially those who wish to receive preparation before working abroad.
In the initial phase, Umsura is targeting 200 prospective participants for the programme. Recruitment is targeted to begin this year, with coordination and selection of prospective participants in September 2026.
The skills fields being prepared include caregiver, professional nurse, construction, operational, and various technical skills tailored to the needs of labour users abroad.
To support the language skills of prospective migrant workers, the Umsura Migrant Center is preparing English, Mandarin, Japanese, and German language training.