More on migrant workers

More on migrant workers

The news on the Nunukan tragedy, once the hottest headlines in
the Indonesian media, has slowly receded from the public eye.
However, we still often hear comforting reports about fund
raising for the suffering Indonesian migrant workers stranded in
Nunukan, more and more medical and social workers being sent to
Nunukan, temporary health centers being built in Nunukan, more
food and medicines being transported to Nunukan, and a well-
organized administration taking care of the illegal Indonesian
migrant workers. Nevertheless, there are still many shortcomings.

The Indonesian government should stop looking upon migrant
workers as being vehicles for bringing in foreign exchange,
contributing to economic growth and helping to prevent the
collapse of the country, which is already up to its ears in debt.
They should be treated as normal human beings having rights that
need to be protected.

Migrant workers, whether documented or undocumented, have
rights as workers and as human beings as embodied in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of
their Families, and the other relevant international conventions.

To anticipate a similar catastrophe in the near future,
besides quickly ratifying the United Nations Convention on the
Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families, the Indonesian
government should work hand in hand with the trade unions, labor
movement, and migrant and migrant support groups.

Initiatives should be continuously taken in the areas of
providing assistance to migrants, advocacy, lobbying,
campaigning, networking, documentation, information and research.
Cooperation should be instituted among peoples and social systems
that are empowering, people-oriented, and which promote
sustainable livelihoods and holistic, integrated humanitarian
values. The trade unions and labor movement should develop a
migrant worker's agenda and build linkages on migrant concerns.

By working concretely together, the burden on the Indonesian
government in handling the problems of Indonesian migrant workers
would be eased.

LYNDA SOETITO, Jakarta