Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Migrant Care, an organization providing advocacy for troubled migrant workers, has recently been at loggerheads with labor exporter associations over labor protection for Indonesian migrant workers.

Migrant Care has proposed that the government, particularly local administrations, be granted more power to guarantee the proper protection of migrant workers before and during their employment overseas. Exporters, meanwhile, said the bill should give full authority to labor exporters to recruit, train and send workers abroad while the government should remain the regulator and supervisor.

Speaking before House of Representatives Commission IX on labor, health and social affairs here on Monday, Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah criticized the 2004 Law on Overseas Labor Placement and Protection, which she said allows labor exporters to treat migrant workers like commodities.

"As long as the law, the government and labor exporters treat migrant workers like commodities instead of job seekers looking for a better future, migrant workers will remain vulnerable to extortion, abuse, violence and rape – both at home and during their employment abroad."

Anis said that to minimize the number of labor abuse cases and ensure the protection of migrant workers, the bill needed to give more authority to the government, particularly regional administrations, giving these authorities a bigger role in the pre-departure process to make sure all would-be migrant workers are well prepared for their overseas employment.

According to Migrant Care, the bill should strengthen the role of regional governments in the recruitment and training process, while also improving immigration offices' abilities to ensure smooth and safe migration.

"Despite their employment in the informal sector as domestic workers and gardeners, all migrant workers must obtain necessary documents, and get relevant job and language training, and all this should be provided by the government. Only certified workers should be allowed to work overseas," she said.

Under the 2004 law, the government and labor exporters share the responsibility for export procedures – a situation that has often been blamed for the increasing number of cases of labor abuse.

Apjati and Himsataki, two of five labor exporter associations, said the bill should give full authority to labor exporters to recruit, train and dispatch workers, and that the government, including the Overseas Labor Placement and Protection Agency (BNP2TKI), should remain focused on its main functions as a regulator and supervisor.

"It is not fair to blame labor abuse on exporters while migrant workers are already certified by the government before their departure and are insured under a commercial insurance scheme. So far we have done our job as suppliers," Indonesian Manpower Service Association (Apjati) deputy chairman Rusjdi Basalamah said.

Indonesian Labor Supplying Companies Association (Himsataki) chairman Yunus Yamani said labor protection should not be reduced into an insurance scheme and that the government should stop the insurance program for migrant workers because they were insured by employers abroad.