Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Indonesian migrant workers are estimated to contribute US$7.1 billion in remittance to the country this year. The figure is higher than the received net Official Development Assistance (ODA) of $1.2 billion, but their voices are less heard compared to foreign donors.

According to the 2010 Migration and Development Brief Report released by the World Bank on Monday, the inward remittance flow from Indonesian migrant workers is increasing every year. In 2004, the remittance from migrant workers was recorded at $1.86 billion. Five years later, the number almost quadrupled to $6.93 billion, while this year the remittance is estimated at $7.1 billion.

Despite the large amount of money they send home, their safety abroad is still uncertain due to lack of regulations and government protection. Migrant Care, an NGO that provided advocacy for troubled migrant workers, recorded in 2009 that 1,018 migrant workers died abroad. As of October this year, the number of workers dying abroad reached 908, with most cases taking place in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

With Malaysia being one of the top host countries for Indonesian migrant workers, Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah urged the government to speed up the protracted negotiation with the neighboring country with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the protection of Indonesian workers there.

The discussion has been stalled for one and a half years. The government must ratify the international convention on migrant workers and revise the current law on migrant workers for better protection in the future, she said. "With the data from World Bank, the government should be ashamed that the economics are supported by the migrant workers. Of the $7.1 billion remittance, 73 percent comes from domestic workers," she said.

Wahyu Susilo, program manager at the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development, said that if the government protected migrant workers, they could perform better in the workplace and generate more income to be sent home. He cited an example from neighboring country the Philippines, which takes serious measures to protect their migrant workers. As a result, he added, the Philippines raked in an 11 percent remittance of total GDP, while Indonesia only recorded 1.3 percent.