Migrant workers need more govt protection

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Representatives of Indonesian workers in the Middle East and Malaysia called on the House of Representatives on Monday to pass the bill on workers' protection and ensure embassies offered effective help to abused Indonesians.

The National Network of Indonesian Migrant Workers said at a hearing with House Commission VII that in countries where Indonesians were regularly abused, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Malaysia, Indonesian diplomats failed to provide adequate help.

"I had a problem with my employer in Malaysia and reported it to the general consul, but the staff there said that I only disrupted his job and increased his burden," network representative Edi said.

The House is currently deliberating a bill on migrant workers' protection.

Edi said in most cases embassy staff members did not want to help, and sometimes worsened the situation.

"Some of my friends who had troubles with their employers turned to the Indonesian Embassy for help, but instead of settling the disputes, the embassy colluded with local private- run worker agencies to channel them to other jobs," said Atikah, a former migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.

She believed the embassy took such a measure so as to cover the return fares of the Indonesian workers.

The network urged the government to place more professional diplomats with a broader knowledge of worker issues and rights in the embassies.

"They (the diplomats) have to be more active in defending the rights of our workers overseas, and must not think of their duty as traveling aboard to have fun."

Legislator Carda Muchtar defended the government position, saying it was the lack of experts on migrant rights in Indonesian embassies that was the main cause of the problems.

"At present, only Indonesian embassies in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and South Korea have manpower attaches to tackle the problems," he said, adding the commission for manpower and transmigration had proposed the government establish manpower attaches in a number of countries where there were a significant number of Indonesian laborers.

The network said the workers helped contribute to the country's foreign exchange earnings and, therefore, it was high time for the government to set up more manpower attaches in foreign embassies to help the workers.

"The government has to defend the workers' cause as they are prone to receiving harsh treatment during their employment," Wahyu Susilo from the Consortium for Indonesian Migrant Workers Advocacy said in a meeting aimed at promoting the bill on migrant workers' protection.

There are over 1.2 million Indonesian workers working overseas. mostly in the Middle East countries.

The government was widely blamed for lacking anticipatory measures that resulted in the expulsion of over 300,000 undocumented Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia following a new immigration act imposed by the country in August.