Elimination of brokers for TKI
Elimination of brokers for TKI
From Merdeka
In their efforts to eliminate illegal Indonesian workers (TKI) in Malaysia, the government will cooperate with the Coordinating Agency for National Stability (Bakorstanas) to eradicate TKI brokers. This is interesting, but can the involvement of Bakorstanas solve the problem?
Several things need to be observed:
1. There are a large number of illegal TKIs not simply because there are TKI brokers but also because the official procedure is long, complicated and expensive.
2. PT B has monopolized the dispatch of Indonesian workers abroad, but in reality the company has failed in its mission. It has sent out only 47,000 TKIs, most of whom have then run away from their work places.
3. Involving Bakorstanas in this matter will bring clarity to the problem. It will soon come to light which parties are involved. It may well be that there are personnel from the regional Ministry of Manpower also involved in sending illegal TKIs to Malaysia.
Three things make a TKI illegal in Malaysia: a) the TKI goes to Malaysia without proper/official documents; b) the TKI uses a tourist visa but takes on a job once there; c) the TKI uses an employment visa but while there he/she runs away from his/her employer. In any of these three cases, the TKI is without any protection.
Following is an example of this situation:
The Malaysian government recently returned two dead bodies to Lombok, where it was found that they were two TKIs sent by PT B. This state-owned company refused to assume responsibility because the two TKIs had run away from their work place and therefore had become illegal workers in Malaysia.
Our problem is how to give legal protection to TKIs, legal or otherwise.
There are four things which may protect a TKI overseas, namely 1. the state's laws; 2. workers' insurance (Astek); 3. insurance where a TKI is domiciled; 4. YPSDMI insurance.
Obviously the country where a TKI is employed will give him/her legal protection. This needs clarifying or for a special agreement to be drawn up with local lawyers. Astek is regulated by a ministerial decree, not a law, and requires that all workers employed abroad are covered by this insurance. Astek for TKIs employed in government agencies or businesses covers only two months, but in the case of TKIs working for individuals it covers two years. In Singapore however, Astek for TKIs covers only two months. Insurance in the country where a TKI is employed covers only accidents and death caused by accident. It does not cover torture or suicide. The final type of insurance is one to protect TKIs issued by the Foundation for the Development of Indonesian Human Resources (YPSDMI).
This foundation will provide a TKI some compensation if he/she does not receive his/her salary from his/her employer, or has an accident or dies in an accident. What this foundation covers has in fact been covered by Astek, and also the insurance from where the TKI is employed. One may then ask what is the establishment of YPSDMI really for? Many parties, including members of the House of People's Representatives, have put this foundation under the spotlight.
Questions arise about this foundation not least because the levy they exact has no legal foundation. Proceeds from levies collected from PJTKIs (companies recruiting workers for overseas employment) amount to Rp 5 billion a month. Take Saudi Arabia as an example. Some 9,000 TKIs have been sent there. A letter from the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah says that YPSDMI has remitted US$ 20,000 for the protection of TKIs in Saudi Arabia. Assuming that each TKI is allocated $ 80, then for 9,000 TKIs there should be 9,000 x $ 80 = $ 720,000. However the amount remitted is only $ 20,000.
It is hoped that the participation of Bakorstanas in resolving the problem of TKI brokers will also sort out the levies collected by YPSDMI so ensuring that the proceeds from this collection are utilized for the benefit of all TKIs, and not for only a handful of people.
YUNUS MOHAMMAD YAMANI
Jakarta