According to the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration
in 2006 there were 2.7 million Indonesian citizens working legally abroad,
these workers constitute approximately 2.8 percent of the Indonesian workforce.
The majority of these labour migrants are women working in the domestic or
service sectors. They are concentrated in Southeast and East Asia and the
Middle East, in particular Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR (Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region), Taiwan Province of China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait
and the United Arab Emirates. The _rst part of the report analyzes the current
legislative framework governing labour migration from Indonesia as well as the
processes for migration from Indonesia. The study found a number of issues with
regards to Law No. 39/2004 and its implementation and enforcement; these
loopholes create the opportunity for abuses at all stages of the migration
process.[1]
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The law’s formulation leaves room for interpretation and
although a signi_cant number of ministerial regulations, presidential decrees,
and presidential instructions have been enacted to explain and clarify how the
law should be implemented, these remain inadequate for e_ective protection of
Indonesian labour migrants. One of the main problems identi_ed in the report is
a lack of cooperation amongst government agencies in the implementation of Law
No 39/2004. As Law No. 39/2004 does not explicitly state the responsibilities
of each ministry or department throughout the migration process, confusion and
power struggles within the Government of Indonesia have followed, especially
between the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the newly established
National Authority for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas
Workers (BNP2TKI). Regulations have now been put in place in an attempt to
establish a division of jurisdiction between these two authorities, however, to
date, these regulations have not had the intended e_ects. Law No. 39/2004 also
limits government involvement in the protection of labour migrants. Instead the
system relies on private recruitment agencies to provide the majority of
services needed by migrants. Private recruitment agencies are now responsible
for recruiting prospective labour migrants, providing them with the skills
required to carry out their job abroad, language training, obtaining
appropriate documentation and _nding suitable employment abroad. As most of the
service providers are placed in Jakarta, this forces labour migrants to travel
to,and stay in, Jakarta which substantially increases the cost of migration for
labour migrants. Under Law No. 39/2004, the power to implement and monitor the
placement and protection of labour migrants has been concentrated at the
national level. District and provincial governments are not required to monitor
the implementation of the law, the performance of recruitment agencies in their
districts or the number of labour migrants leaving their districts. A signifcant
obstacle to safe recruitment practices in Indonesia is the lack of information
among prospective labour migrants about safe migration, documentation and
employment conditions abroad.[2]
by : Firnadia Yulia Wahda
