Govt suspends sending of TKIs overseas
Govt suspends sending of TKIs overseas
Berni K. Moestafa
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The government said on Wednesday it had suspended the dispatch of
Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) overseas amid the worldwide
threat of a respiratory virus, holding back some 8,000 workers
just as they were about to leave the country.
"This suspension is temporary as we wait for a way to overcome
the SARS problem," said Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Jacob Nua Wea referring to the new disease known Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome which has killed some 100 people worldwide.
Health officials from around the world continue to detect SARS
cases, some leading to death. The disease is suspected to have
originated from southern China which has reported the highest
case of SARS.
Hong Kong and neighboring Singapore have also been hit hard by
SARS, and both are prime destinations of Indonesian workers.
Last week, the government declared SARS a national threat. The
number of suspected SARS cases was 33, but not a single patient
has been positively diagnosed with that disease.
Jacob would not estimate for how long the government would
suspend Indonesian workers from going abroad.
According to him, other worker exporting countries like the
Philippines have imposed a similar ban.
Indonesian workers contributed some US$1 billion to state
revenues last year.
"(I know) they'd be real happy to go abroad, but they may get
the disease," Jacob said, saying that each worker earned an
average of around Rp 2 million (about US$224) every month.
He asked the workers to return home rather than waiting out
the suspension at the temporary dormitories belonging to labor
exporting companies.
"Otherwise, I advise the companies to take this time to
provide the workers with more training so that when the time
comes for them to go, they will be fully prepared," he added.
Aside from Southeast Asian markets in Singapore, Malaysia and
Hong Kong, the Middle East is another destination for Indonesian
workers but the government had previously suspended the supplying
of new workers to the region because of the war in Iraq.
The region currently employs some 68,000 Indonesian workers,
almost all of whom have stayed.
Last year, Malaysia stopped accepting Indonesian workers in an
effort to drive out illegal ones following a series of clashes
between them and the police and immigration personnel in that
country.
The suspension was lifted earlier this year amid a surge of
demand in the construction and agriculture sector.
Taiwan, meanwhile, has maintained its suspension of all
Indonesian workers since last August due to complaints that many
had broken their contracts.