Main Problem Is Legal Protection

ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Supriani (second from right) with family members visits the grave of his daughter-in-law Julia Ningsih (19), at the Dasan Borok Village Public Cemetery, Suralaga District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Friday (21/1/2022). Julia Ningsih, who left for Malaysia with Junaidi, her husband, was one of the victims who died in a non-procedural Indonesian Migrant Worker ship accident in the waters of Johor, Malaysia, in mid-December 2021.

The nagging issues related to the protection of Indonesian migrant workers continue to linger, with the government being urged to take firm action to protect migrant workers from the time prior to leaving Indonesia, working in the country of placement to the completion of their work and returning home.

Public views about the problems overshadowing Indonesian migrant workers are reflected in the results of a poll conducted by Kompas on 12-14 Jan. 2022. Many respondents (37.2 percent) believed that the main problem for migrant workers was the lack of legal protection in the country of placement.

Legal protection was seen as crucial given the current situation, in which migrant worker recruitment is marked with rampant cases of violence, violations of workers' rights and neglect of workers in the country of placement.

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Such problems have become even more evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many migrant workers being reported to have been left in limbo because of layoffs and unpaid wages.

Apart from the problem migrant workers face in the country of placement, the public also attributed the quandary to the government’s weak legal protection of migrant workers’ process of recruitment and distribution.

Loose legal enforcement has resulted in migrant workers leaving the country without documents as they resort to using unofficial — and illegal — avenues marred with fraudulent practices and people trafficking.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

A total of 29 illegal migrant workers from East Nusa Tenggara were rescued by the Riau Islands Police at Kijang Harbor, Bintan, Riau Islands, Monday (26/8/2019).

Lacking in enforcement

These cases have been rampant not because of the absence of laws or regulations. The government has issued a number of regulations on the protection of migrant workers. Law No. 18/2017 concerning the protection of migrant workers carries provisions for secure passage for migrant workers before, during and after work. This includes information dissemination, improvement of the quality of migrant workers, social security provision, supervision, employment arbitration and facilitation for their return to their regions of origin.

The responsibility to protect migrant workers is the shared domain of the provincial government down to the village administration. This means that village administrators, as the lowest hierarchy in the government’s extending hand, has the obligation to ensure the protection of their people.

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Unfortunately, according to research by the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI), many local governments and village administrations are still unaware of the law on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers. The data indicates that out of 1,082 villages that have so far become traditional suppliers of migrant workers, only 19.13 percent kept records on their residents who were working abroad. More than 90 percent of the respondent villages appeared to have neglected regulations on the protection of migrant workers.

Seeing the nagging and complicated problems of migrant workers, the public has appealed to the government to heighten legal protection for migrant workers.

Agreements and cooperation on placement, supervision and legal certainty for migrant workers in countries of placement need to be strengthened.

Indonesia has 11 active documents on bilateral cooperation concerning migrant workers. Regulations are already in place, but the most important issues are implementation and firm action.

(KOMPAS R&D)

This article was translated by Musthofid.