More labor exporters to be closed down

JAKARTA: The government has agreed to shut down several labor exporting agencies and provide better protection for Indonesian migrant workers employed in the informal sector abroad.

Yunus Yamani, secretary-general of the association of labor exporters, said on Friday the government had agreed to make it a requirement for labor suppliers to sign cooperation agreements with their counterparts overseas, which would then be registered with Indonesian representative offices abroad.

The government also agreed to up the minimum age for migrant workers to 20, and close down labor-exporting agencies that could not meet the government requirements, but merely collect money from the migrant workers without protecting them, Yunus said after a meeting with Minister of Transmigration and Manpower Fahmi Idris. -- Antara