Govt pushed to get tough on manpower agencies
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) urged authorities on Monday to take legal action against manpower agencies and state apparatus illegally recruiting and sending workers overseas.
"Errant manpower agencies and state apparatus must be charged under the Criminal Code," Rekso Herman told a press conference here on Monday.
Rekso said the authorities could not use Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration Decree No. 104 A/2002, for this purpose because the maximum penalty for any offense was only an administrative sanction.
The statement from the House's biggest faction, PDI Perjuangan faction, came weeks after the nation was shocked by recent cases of maltreatment of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.
Fifteen workers returned home recently after experiencing physical and psychological abuse in Saudi Arabia. They were hospitalized upon their arrival at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
The House of Representatives leaders had called on the government to temporarily stop the sending of workers abroad and urged Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jakob Nuwa Wea to resign due to his for inability to solve the problems.
Nearly 200,000 Indonesian workers fled Malaysia in August last year after Kuala Lumpur cracked down on an estimated 600,000 illegal workers.
They were stranded in the East Kalimantan town of Nunukan, near the border of Malaysia's Sabah state.
Fellow legislator Hadi Wasikun added that many violations took place in the recruitment of workers from regions by the manpower agencies.
He said that many manpower agencies had no training centers to improve the skills of workers. The manpower agencies also offered jobs to people without clear job descriptions.
"Also, I have received reports that the recruitment is conducted by middlemen or brokers. The workers are housed in buildings without proper sanitation," he said.
This, he said, of course caused the health of workers to deteriorate prior to their departure abroad.
In a statement signed by faction chairman Tjahjo Kumolo and secretary Panda Nababan, PDI Perjuangan faction suggested that the foreign ministry and the manpower and transmigration ministry enter into bilateral agreements with countries hiring Indonesians to protect workers.
Regarding the bill on migrant worker protection, PDI Perjuangan urged the government to immediately issue a government regulation as the legal basis for the workers protection.
"Because, the deliberation of the bill on migrant workers protection will take time," Wasikun added.