Migrant workers seek more protection

Migrant workers seek more protection

A three-day international conference on Indonesian migrant
workers ended on Wednesday with a list of demands, including that
the government enact a law on migrant workers to ratify the
migrant workers' rights convention, help settle disputes
involving migrant workers abroad and support the migrant worker
savings program.

"This conference's declaration will include those three
demands," the secretary of the Coalition for Indonesian Migrant
Workers Protection (Kopbumi), Wahyu Susilo, told The Jakarta Post
before the end of the conference.

The conference on Migrant Savings, Alternative Investment
(MSAI) for Community Development and Reintegration was jointly
organized by the Hong Kong-based Asian Migrant Center (AMC) and
the Indonesian Committee for Reintegration (Icore).

Wahyu said the enactment of a law on the protection of migrant
workers and the ratification of the International Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers was needed so as
to provide a proper legal framework for resolving labor problems.

The government was also urged to give serious attention to
labor cases involving Indonesian workers abroad, such as
frequently occurred in South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia,
Singapore and the Middle Eastern countries, he said.

"In our declaration, we will refer to a number of cases in
those countries. We hope the government will intervene to help
settle them," Wahyu said.

He revealed that dozens of Indonesian migrant workers were
facing deportation from South Korea, while some fellow migrants
in Japan were being subjected to salary cuts.

He said many migrant workers were forced to return home after
their employment contracts ended in Hong Kong, while other
Indonesian workers were facing document-related problems in
Malaysia.

The government was urged to help an Indonesian worker who was
facing trial in Singapore and dozens of abused women workers in
the Middle Eastern countries, he said.

The conference, which was attended by 133 activists from local
and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including NGOs
from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, also agreed to
campaign for migrant workers' savings for alternative investment
(MSAI).

"The government considers migrant workers to be a commodity
without thinking about their futures. This savings scheme is also
aimed at improving the bargaining position of workers," Wahyu
claimed.

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the conference's organizing
committee Anti Sulaiman accused the government of doing nothing
to improve the lot of migrant workers.

"The Ministry of Manpower often promises to empower migrant
workers and their families, but nothing is ever done," Anti was
quoted by Antara as saying.

She criticized the government for frequently saying that
migrant workers were heroes and heroines, but doing nothing at
the same time to stop abuses being perpetrated against them,
especially women migrant workers.

To press for the implementation of their demands as set out in
the declaration, local and foreign NGO activists will stage a
rally in front of the State Palace on Thursday, the day
designated by the United Nations as migrant workers solidarity
day.

Last month, dozens of women migrant workers were forced to
return home from Saudi Arabia. They alleged that they had been
abused, raped or left unpaid by their employers.

There are around four million Indonesians working overseas,
sending home some US$2.4 billion in remittances annually.JP