Export skilled workers, minister says
Export skilled workers, minister says
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris has called on
labor exporters to follow in the footsteps of the Binawan Group,
which has begun exporting trained professionals.
"Binawan Group -- running an international-standard institute
to produce health care professionals -- has set a good example,
which should be followed by other labor export companies, in an
endeavor to improve the bargaining power of workers employed
overseas, increase the government's foreign exchange from labor
export and help establish the country's good image abroad," he
said over the weekend at a farewell party for more than 200
health care professionals workers here.
The paramedics, who graduated from the Binawan Institute of
Health Sciences (Stikes Binawan) in Jakarta, left for Sydney on
Saturday to complete their studies and work in Australian
hospitals for two years. They will also take courses at the
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), to gain bachelors of
nursing and be registered as nurses in Australia.
According to the labor contract with the Australian hospitals,
the workers will be paid A$2,700 per month (Rp16 million).
Fahmi said the time has come for Indonesia to alter its labor
export policy by gradually stopping to send unskilled workers,
particularly housemaids, and, instead, beginning to supply
professionals, to help improve the workers' bargaining power and
avoid labor abuses overseas.
"The rampant abuse of Indonesian workers overseas has a lot to
do with their poor knowledge and low skills -- two factors that
have apparently caused their employers to underpay them and abuse
them.
"Skilled workers know what their rights are and posses an
ability to protect themselves in their workplace, as well as
being paid in accordance with international standards," he said,
adding that the government's remittance from labor export would
double if workers were better qualified.
The minister said the presence of around 400,000 illegal
immigrants in Malaysia and more than 50,000 in the Middle East
was related to their lack of skills.
About 72 percent of Indonesian migrant workers are women. Over
90 percent of these women are employed as domestic workers in
countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South
Korea and the Middle East. The two main destinations are Malaysia
(40 percent) and Saudi Arabia (37 percent). Of these countries,
only Hong Kong provides a legal framework for the protection of
domestic workers' rights, such as working hours, standardized
wages, leave and other conditions of employment.
The government remittance from migrant workers is estimated to
reach between US$1.1 billion to $2.2 billion per year, making the
labor export sector the second largest contributor to the
country's foreign exchange revenue after oil and gas.
Meanwhile, the institute's rector Prof. Azrul Azwar said the
institute is cooperating with the UTS to produce health care
professionals who are employable overseas, through an
international-standard curriculum.
"A number of developed countries, such as Britain, Norway, the
United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and
Middle East countries have requested health care professionals
from the institute," he said, citing that the institute's
curriculum applies British and American standards.