Try Sutrisno calls for improved labor policy

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno called for reform of the country's labor export policy yesterday to help improve Indonesia's image overseas.

When addressing a manpower ministry workshop, Try said a crackdown on illegal labor suppliers, tighter control of work permits and people choosing overseas jobs more carefully was needed.

The complicated existing licensing procedures have discouraged many job seekers wanting to work overseas from obtaining them and so they often go illegally.

"Indonesia's image and dignity have been hurt by the huge number of Indonesians working abroad illegally," Try said.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians work illegally in Malaysia. Earlier this week Kuala Lumpur deported almost 300 of them.

The absence of research on the types of jobs available abroad has resulted in many Indonesian female workers ending up with indecent jobs and being poorly treated by their employers, he said.

The latest official to raise concern over Indonesian workers' plight abroad was Mien Sugandhi, the State Minister of Women's Roles.

Earlier this month she said she planned to go to Saudi Arabia to acquire first-hand information on reports that many Indonesian workers there were living in deplorable conditions and had been reduced to working as prostitutes.

Try said he supported the export of workers but that he wanted to see the system better organized so that Indonesians could compete with workers from other countries.

The tight competition should encourage vocational training centers and related government agencies to provide job seekers with proper skills, he said.

At the meeting, also attended by State Minister of Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi, Attorney General Singgih and Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, Try also urged the Federation of the All Indonesian Workers Union to improve its standards.

The federation is the country's only government-recognized labor organization.

During a question-and-answer session, Try warned that workers should not be used by interest groups to satisfy the latter's political ends.

"Workers can be used to create instability which would disrupt development and hurt their interests," he said. (pan)