'Govt should punish violating labor recruitment agencies'

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Labor Exporters Association (Apjati) called on authorities to take strict measures against labor recruitment agencies violating the newly-revised labor export procedure in a bid to improve protection for Indonesian workers overseas.

"The government must have a strong commitment to impose harsh sanctions against all parties, especially labor recruitment companies which are found guilty of violating the new labor export procedure, in order to improve labor protection and Indonesia's image overseas," Husein Alaydrus said here on Wednesday.

Husein admitted that the increasing number of Indonesian workers overseas who faced difficulties, poor worker protection and prevalent extortion of workers had a lot to do with the extensive violations.

According to him, authorities, including the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Police should enhance coordination in enforcing the new decree on labor export.

Al-Hilal Hamdi, minister of manpower and transmigration, recently issued a labor decree to amend the 1986 ministerial decree on labor export. The amendment to the labor export procedure was conducted to minimize the number of troubled workers and to improve Indonesian workers' competitiveness abroad.

The new regulation requires labor agencies recruiting workers to send overseas to provide at least three weeks of intensive job training to equip workers with better skills in their respective jobs and enhance their communication skills.

The new decree also regulates that the agencies are responsible for all administrative and legal affairs from the moment of a worker's recruitment to their employment overseas and their arrival home.

Previously labor agencies were not obliged to assist with any problems which befell workers.

The new decree also requires recruitment agencies to provide an insurance scheme for workers and to include the workers' rights clause in labor contracts between workers and their employers.

The new decree also authorizes the government to set official recruitment fees for all countries to help prevent labor recruitment agencies from extorting higher fees from workers.

The recruitment fees, which covers plane fares and training fees, vary depending on workers' destination countries.

Husein said the manpower and transmigration ministry and Apjati were conducting a program to enhance labor export procedures in accordance with the new decree.

"We are conducting an information campaign about the new labor export procedure and all agencies are expected to abide by the new regulation," he said, adding the information campaign would last until Aug. 20.

Rusjdi S., chairman of the consortium of companies supplying workers to Saudi Arabia, appreciated the amendment to the labor procedure to improve Indonesian workers' competitiveness in the Middle East.

He admitted that Indonesian workers had lost their competitive advantage compared to those from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh because most workers sent to the region were of low quality.

"Indonesia will certainly win the competition if the quality of Indonesian workers sent to the Middle East is improved," he said, claiming that Saudi Arabian employers preferred employing Indonesian workers to those from other countries.

Over the last six months, the government has received some US$4 billion in remittances from more than 440,000 overseas workers, working in numerous countries, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore. (rms)