Indonesian lawmakers are set to overhaul the 2004 Overseas Labour Placement and Protection Law to improve conditions for Indonesian migrant workers.
Supriyatno, the deputy chairman of House Commission IX overseeing labour, said on Monday that the revised draft was complete and would be discussed with the government during the current legislative session.
The revised draft gave more attention to transparent and inexpensive worker recruitment and minimum training standards, and would expand the role of regional governments and the Foreign Ministry in protecting workers, Supriyatno said. ”It is different from the current law, which focuses more on human trade than labour protection.”
Lawmakers are said to be focusing on five key points: labour protection, a bigger role for regional administrations, an accountability mechanism for recruiters, expanding the role of the of the National Agency for Overseas Labour Placement and Protection (BNP2TKI) and giving embassies a larger role in monitoring and aiding Indonesian workers overseas.
Commission IX member Rieke Diah Pitaloka said it would be difficult to expect the law to give maximum protection to migrant workers who were in trouble, given that the private agencies recruiting and placing workers were commercially motivated.
Migrant Care, an NGO which provides legal advocacy to troubled workers, blamed the government for the abuse of workers and the increasing number of migrant workers on death row overseas, claiming the government favoured publicizing reports of the money sent by the workers to Indonesia instead of protecting them.
The NGO also called for the liquidation of the BNP2TKI, which it claimed had aggravated the protection problem.
Four million Indonesian migrant workers sent home US$6 billion in 2011, while 32 were facing death sentences for various crimes.
The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, however, rejected the criticism of Migrant Care, saying the government evaluated relevant labor export policies and placement and protection mechanisms.
“The government has underlined the protection aspect. We continue to make improvements in the handling of troubled workers before, during and after their employment overseas,” Reyna Usman, director general for overseas labor placement and protection at the ministry, said.
Sulistyowati Irianto, a professor of legal anthropology from the University of Indonesia’s Law School, said migrant workers would remain susceptible to abuse without an integrated justice system that maximized protection during their recruitment and overseas employment and after their return home.
