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.