The National Urban Development Movement (Gerbang Desa) Friday called for an end to the despatch of Indonesian migrant workers abroad until all problems related to migrant workers had been resolved.
"All this time, there has been no MoU (memorandum of understanding) between Indonesia and destination countries as required by the law," Gerbang Desa Chief Bahauddin Thonti said.
Law No. 39 of 2004 on the placement and protection of migrant workers abroad banned any despatch of migrant workers to a foreign country which had not signed an MoU with Indonesia, he said.
Under the MoU governing among others migrant workers` protection, salaries and work hours, Indonesian migrant workers would have a strong bargaining position so that they could no longer be mistreated abroad, he said.
He expressed his deep concern about the fate of an Indonesian construction worker identified as Linda who was killed in the Malaysian state of Selangor.
"Stop sending Indonesian migrant workers abroad. Let`s employ them at home by developing 60,000 villages across Indonesia. The villages will offer great prospects if the government just develops them," he said.
The Manpower Ministry should not merely collect various fees from migrant workers, including a US$15 protection fee and Rp450,000 insurance while at the same time ignoring their plight abroad, he said.
He warned irresponsible officials against extorting Indonesian migrant workers who had contributed a lot to the country`s foreign exchange earnings.
The growing number of brokers offering overseas employment services had led to the dispatch of illegal Indonesian migrant workers whose number might run into two million. Nearly 600 thousand of them are currently employed in neighboring Malaysia, he said.
http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1256948451/govt-urged-to-stop-sending-migrant-workers-abroad
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