Remittances from migrant workers up

Remittances from migrant workers up

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's remittances from migrant workers employed overseas
significantly increased in the first quarter of this year due to
the reemergence of employment opportunities in a number of
countries.

According to Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration figures,
the value of the remittances soared by almost 450 percent to
US$425.2 million sent home by almost 294,000 workers between
January and April, up from $75.6 million during the same period
last year.

Association of Indonesian Labor Exporters (Himsataki) chairman
Yunus Yamani said the recent increase in labor exports and
remittances was the result of the reopening of the Middle Eastern
and Taiwanese markets to Indonesian workers following the end of
the Iraq crisis and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
outbreak.

"We should not rest on our laurels, however, and assume that
all the problems have been solved," he told The Jakarta Post here
on Tuesday.

Indonesia suspended the sending of workers to the Middle East
early last year because of the U.S-led attack on Iraq, and to
Hong Kong and Taiwan because of the outbreak of SARS in a number
of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan are
the four Middle Eastern countries employing the largest number of
Indonesian workers in the informal sector.

Yunus said that workers' remittances could increase twofold or
threefold if the government had the political will to repeal a
number of controversial regulations and improve the skills of
overseas-bound migrant workers.

"The officials from the relevant agencies and institutions
should sit down together to review all the rulings that have
discouraged labor exports, and provide incentives for labor
exporting companies (PJTKI) which comply with labor export
procedures," he said.

He criticized the government for issuing numerous overlapping
regulations, which only served to confuse labor exporters.

He added that almost 50 percent of the country's more than 460
labor exporters had suspended their operations because of the
unfavorable climate resulting from the conflicting regulations
and the absence of labor export quotas.

Mardjono, director of labor protection at the Ministry of
Manpower and Transmigration, said the government would intensify
training programs to improve the competitiveness and bargaining
power of workers.

"Most workers run into trouble abroad because of their lack of
skills, and this has resulted in them becoming more vulnerable.
Our workers should be independent and be capable of providing the
skills required by employers," he said.

Former manpower minister Bomer Pasaribu called for sweeping
reform of the migrant labor sector.

"The government should set up an agency to recruit and train
all prospective migrant workers. This would ensure that the
workers learn the skills they need before their departure," he
said.

According to Bomer, the abuses perpetrated against Indonesian
migrant workers are mostly caused by their lack of skills and
education.