Migrant workers demand legal protection overseas

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara

The ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) labor senior official meeting was disrupted on Wednesday when 500 former migrant workers and labor activists from 12 non- governmental organizations (NGOs) demanded regional governments to provide legal protection for workers, especially those employed in Singapore and Malaysia.

Under tight escort from two companies of riot squad personnel, the protesters, who lashed out at the exploitation of Indonesian workers overseas, marched for two kilometers from the West Lombok legislature building to the hotel where ASEAN delegations gathered for the meeting.

The meeting will be followed by the ASEAN labor ministerial meeting, which will discuss a joint program to improve labor conditions and cope with labor-related issues in the region.

The protesters, mostly from Sumbawa, held a free speech forum in front of the hotel after police blocked their entry to the meeting venue.

Rally coordinator Endang Susilawati regretted the tight security cordon.

"At least the Indonesian delegation should listen to our aspirations. We are not being unruly -- we want to share our bad experiences during our employment overseas," she said.

West Nusa Tenggara obtains Rp 1 billion a day in foreign exchange from about 69,000 workers employed as domestic helpers and those in the manufacturing and construction sectors in Malaysia and Singapore.

Endang, who was employed as a domestic helper in Malaysia several years ago, said almost all workers working in Malaysia and Singapore were inadequately protected, which has resulted in many of them being tortured, arbitrarily dismissed or underpaid and this has sparked a flow of illegal workers.

"The government should not only enjoy the remittances from workers abroad but also take necessary action to provide legal protection for them in an effort to avoid the tragic incidents that have befallen four Indonesian workers whose remains were sent back to the province several years ago and the routine torture of several Indonesian workers in Malaysia and Singapore," she said.

Abdurrahhim, another protester, strongly urged the government to impose tight measures in the labor export procedure and make a prolabor export policy to curb the rampant extortion of Indonesian workers sent overseas.

"The government should pass a strict law that prevents job seekers from entering other countries illegally and prevents both government officials and labor exporters from abusing job seekers and returning workers," he said.

He said it was impossible for Indonesia to lobby other countries to employ its workers unless it enacted certain ILO conventions to legally protect migrant workers.

Meeting chairman Edison Situmorang appreciated the peaceful demonstration but said the protesters' aspirations would not be officially accepted to avoid disturbing the meeting between SLOM delegations and ASEAN's dialog partners South Korea, Japan and China.

Edison, who is also an expert staff member at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said that the government did not have a strong enough will to tackle the labor export issue as seriously as the Philippine government.

"The labor export issue should be handled properly, integrally and cautiously because it's very strategic to help cope with the unemployment problem at home and improve people's social welfare," he said.