Labor extortion remains unresolved soon

Labor extortion remains unresolved soon

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has decided to take charge of transporting of
overseas workers home upon their arrival at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport and will no longer use the special lounge
at the terminal as a transit point.

According to one minister, the move was necessary to take the
power out of the hands of airport, immigration and customs
officials who are well-known for rampant labor extortion.

However, the policy is somewhat questionable because it will
only transfer the problem from the terminal to the new venue
where the workers will be taken and debriefed before being
transported home.

The new policy was said to be part of the ongoing attempts to
transfer more control of labor exports as stipulated in a
ministerial decree issued by Manpower and Transmigration Minister
Jacob Nuwa Wea on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration will use its
building in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, as the new transit point
where the workers will be taken before being transported to their
home villages in Java, Bali and East Nusa Tenggara," he said
after swearing in 37 new officials at his office.

He said government officers from his office would accompany
workers to undergo immigration and excise checks to prevent them
from being exploited by the officials.

The extortion has also frequently happened when the workers
were forced by bus drivers transporting them, to convert their
foreign money into Indonesian rupiah with lower rates on their
way home.

Ideally, the workers should be able to go out freely through
the existing terminals instead of being placed at a special
terminal or building, where they can easily be intimidated and
forced to pay all manner of illegal fees. Most of workers already
know how to get from Jakarta to their respective homes, so the
practice is unnecessary, but apparently useful for certain
officials who may have a personal interest in the status quo.

Nuwa Wea said further that his office would also impose
stricter requirements for labor exporting agencies in running
their operations.

"Labor exporters must be available at a main office to enable
government officers to coordinate with them in handling the
workers. They are also required to have training centers with an
adequate number of trainers and training facilities in accordance
with the guidance set by the government. And all workers
undergoing the training program must be accommodated in a
dormitory," he said.

He warned that companies failing to meet the requirements
would get their licenses revoked. He said so far, his office
revoked the licenses of around 12 agencies for violating the
export rulings and gave final warnings to a number of others for
minor violations.

Besides, the minister said, all labor exporters would be
obliged, as of next year, to limit the export of unskilled
workers to 60 percent to help reduce to a minimum any trouble-
makers overseas.

"Each time a labor agent exports six unskilled workers, he or
she must also supply four skilled ones," he said, adding that
many of the unskilled people have developed trouble with their
employers because they were found to be deficient in doing their
job and in their communication skills.

He said in 2004, the government would impose a stricter quota
system by requiring agents to export more skilled workers to
increase the amounts of bank remittances sent back to home banks.

The majority of some three million overseas workers are
employed as housemaids with low pay because they had no skills,
and thus the amount they were taxed was also quite low.