Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Looking at the fact that Indonesian migrant workers abroad are often exploited and abused by their employers and lack legal recourse, Indonesia is urged to ratify a convention on migrant workers as a tool to convince destination countries to protect foreign workers.
Government employees, experts, and non-governmental organizations all agreed Tuesday that it was urgent for Indonesia to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers as the first step toward unified international efforts to establish a legal basis for protecting all migrant workers, including Indonesian workers abroad.
"Based on reports from Indonesian representative offices abroad, some 300 Indonesian migrant workers died in 2006 alone. The data shows how widespread human rights abuses against them are," Foreign Ministry director general for multilateral affairs Mochamad S. Hidayat told a seminar on migrant workers in Jakarta.
He said that despite this sobering fact, the 2.7 million migrant workers abroad managed to send remittances of US$2.9 billion to their villages and towns, and, in turn, become a locomotive to turn around the local and national economy.
Indonesian workers are found in Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, Europe, and the US
The convention, which came into force on July 1, 2003, has been ratified by 34 countries, most of which are migrant workers providers.
Once ratified, the convention requires the signing country to make sure foreign workers' basic rights are fulfilled, including protection from mental and physical abuse, receiving the minimum wage, and freedom to pray according to their religion. The parties to the convention will be also required to give a report to the United Nations on the progress of the application of the convention.
Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations and other international organizations Makarim Wibisono said that the international community wanted to see what Indonesia could do to address human rights abuses against its workers.
"The ratification, which is not only a legal pledge but also a political commitment as it needs approval from the legislators, sends a signal to the international community that Indonesian politicians support the country's move to support protection for migrant workers," he told the seminar.
Makarim said that by ratifying the convention, Indonesia could then set an example and convince the destination countries to adopt and ratify the same convention.
Most participants from NGOs were in agreement that Indonesia should ratify the convention immediately.
Regional representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Homayoun Alizadeh said that the ratification of the convention was very important for Indonesia because it would give Indonesia a major role in reshaping migrant conditions and access to technical assistance from the United Nations.
"Indonesia is a major partner of many countries, including European Union members. The ratification will have an impact on the efforts to protect migrant workers at the international level. We are ready to provide Indonesia with technical assistance," he said.
An expert in international law at the University of Indonesia Hikmahanto Juwana, however, warned that it would be useless to ratify a convention without enforcing it through the national legal system.
"We have ratified so many conventions without implementation at all. So, what is the convention for? We have to prepare the legal system and law enforcers for the convention," he said.