Promising start for migrant workers

Promising start for migrant workers

Alan Boulton, Jakarta

The actions by the President and the Manpower Minister in
their early days in office are a good sign that the Government
will finally address the problems which confront many Indonesian
migrant workers.

The President made a special trip to Riau to welcome returning
workers from Malaysia and to acknowledge the contribution of
these "heroes". The new manpower minister, Fahmi Idris, has
visited Malaysia for discussions with the Malaysian government on
a range of migrant workers issues. It is important that follow-up
action ensure a proper system and protections are now put in
place for migrant workers.

There is growing awareness of the problems encountered by many
Indonesians who seek employment opportunities in other countries.
While overseas employment can be a rewarding experience for many,
some migrant workers suffer poor working and living conditions.
In recent well-publicized cases, some workers have suffered
serious abuses at the hands of their employers.

Migrant workers are an increasingly important part of the
labor force of many countries. It is estimated that there are
more than 86 million migrant workers the world over, of which
some 32 million are in developing regions. More than two million
Asian workers leave home every year to work in other countries
within, and outside, the region, under short-term employment
contracts.

Today's migrant workforce includes workers with a variety of
skills. At the upper end are the millions of professional workers
who travel to other countries in search of higher wages or
greater opportunities. However migration flows are dominated by
workers moving to fill unskilled jobs in those sectors of the
labor market vacated by native workers who have moved on to
better jobs. Most migrants from developing countries tend to end
up working in the so-called "3D" jobs -- the dirty, dangerous,
and difficult jobs that local workers don't want.

Women account for an increasing proportion of international
migrants. The feminization of the migrant workforce, particularly
in labor-intensive manufacturing industries and in many service
industries, is most evident in Asia, where a considerable number
of women emigrate each year in both unskilled and skilled
professions, the majority in domestic service and entertainment
and, to a lesser extent, in nursing and teaching.

Over the last decade Indonesia has become one of the world's
major suppliers of unskilled international contract labor.
Indonesia is the second largest exporter of labor after the
Philippines. According to a recent ILO study, the number of
documented or regular migrant workers was 438,000 in 2002. The
number of undocumented or irregular migrant workers is difficult
to estimate, but is likely to be at least twice the official
figure.

It is estimated that the annual foreign exchange earnings
derived from Indonesian migrant workers is between US$1.1 to $2.2
billion. Remittances from migrant workers in 2003 alone amounted
to $1.86 billion, making them the second largest contributor to
Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings after oil and gas.

About 72 percent of Indonesian migrant workers are women. Over
90 percent of these women are employed as domestic workers in
countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South
Korea and the Middle East. The two main destinations are Malaysia
(40 percent) and Saudi Arabia (37 percent). Of these countries,
only Hong Kong provides a legal framework for the protection of
domestic workers rights, such as working hours, standardized
wages, leave, and other conditions of employment.

Indonesian migrant workers therefore contribute a great deal
to the Indonesian economy and society and are an increasingly
important part of its labor force. Labor migration offers
prospects of employment for many who would have little chance of
finding jobs at home and therefore helps to relieve the
unemployment problems in Indonesia.

The challenge for government is to find ways of maximizing
migration's contribution to growth and development and providing
appropriate protections and support for Indonesians who want to
work in other countries.

So what needs to be done? Providing better protections for
migrant workers will involve work at different levels. At the
international level, there must be acceptance that core labor
standards provide a minimum set of global rules for labor in the
global economy.

At the national level, some of the key areas requiring
improvement include: the provision of accurate, timely and
appropriate information to potential migrant workers about costs
involved and wages and conditions at the destination; effective
control of recruiters and middlemen so that commissions, travel
and recruiting costs are charged at realistic levels to encourage
less undocumented labor migration.

There have already been significant improvements in the
support provided to migrant workers through Indonesian embassies
in many receiving countries. There is scope for developing these
services further through the posting of Labor Attaches in more
embassies and the encouragement of support groups for Indonesian
workers abroad.

Providing better protections will involve the national
government working with provincial and district governments on
some of these measures. Consideration should also be given to
ways of upgrading the skills base of the migrant labor workforce,
in order to improve their competitiveness and bargaining power.
It is sensible to commit resources to develop one of Indonesia's
largest export industries -- and especially to one which brings
benefits to many ordinary Indonesian women and men.

It is essential that there be dialogue with, and involvement
of, key stakeholders, service providers, and monitoring agencies.
Trade unions and community organizations can assist migrant
workers by organizing them and giving voice to their concerns.
Most important of all, there is a need to involve migrant workers
themselves in the efforts to provide better protection.

The fair treatment and protection of migrant workers also
relates to their return to Indonesia and integration back into
their local communities.

We need to make greater efforts, both to ensure that Indonesia
and Indonesians benefit from the opportunities of international
labor migration, and that proper protections are provided for
migrant workers. Effective and sustained action on the part of
government is necessary for the development, implementation and
monitoring of policies that will maximize the benefits, and
minimize the risks, of labor migration.

Alan Boulton, is ILO country director for Indonesia. The above
view is strictly personal.