Independent board for overseas workers sought

Independent board for overseas workers sought

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Labor activists are urging the government to set up an
independent board to oversee Indonesian workers overseas.

Chairman of the Indonesian Overseas Workers Union (SPTKI) H.
Anwar and head of the Legal Aid Institute for Indonesian Migrant
Workers (LPBH-TKI) Munir Achmad said on Saturday the
establishment of an independent board would create a one-stop
mechanism to handle overseas workers.

"The current system on overseas workers involving many
ministries is ineffective. We should learn from the Philippines,
which has such a board and has succeeded in serving its overseas
workers better than Indonesia," Anwar told The Jakarta Post over
the weekend.

He cited the poor ministerial coordination in assisting
illegal workers returning from Malaysia as a prime example of the
failure of the current system.

"If we had a one-stop mechanism, we would have proper
preparations to help returning workers," he said.

Another example, he said, was the illegal fees demanded by
police or immigration officers from returning overseas workers.

At airports, overseas workers must wait long hours before
boarding a plane, he added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had yet to set up labor
representative offices in destination countries, leaving workers
without serious supervision and protection, according to Anwar.

"Imagine what would happen to our migrant workers if they were
tortured by their employers. Our embassies mostly don't care
about their fate," he said.

In comparison, the Philippines has had system under one
government agency ever since its people started working overseas
in the 1980s.

The agency's authority ranges from promoting, monitoring,
guaranteeing, educating, selecting migrant workers and
deregulating regulatory functions.

It also has special representative offices in countries hiring
Filipino workers to supervise workers and help ensure their
safety.

It has also reportedly created an efficient procedure to send
workers abroad, including designating particular counters at the
airport to speed up their departure.

"We must press the House of Representatives to start
deliberating the bill on migrant workers protection, which will
be the basis of the establishment of the independent board,"
Anwar said.

At present, the House is drafting a bill on overseas workers
protection.

The House's Legislative Body chairman, Zein Badjeber,
acknowledged that the draft included the establishment of an
independent board and representative offices overseas.

Zein said the proposed board should be placed under the
auspices of the President.

Meanwhile, Munir said the planned board should also be able to
eliminate illegal fees taken by government officials.

"We should not tolerate officials who blackmail overseas
workers. We should remember that the workers are real heroes who
contribute billion of dollars to the country over the years," he
told the Post.

Overseas workers send home at least US$500 million annually.

Regarding the deliberation of the migrant workers protection
bill, Zein said the House could not deliberate it until the labor
protection and the industrial dispute settlement bills were
passed into law.

"The two laws will become references to the migrant workers
protection bill," he said.