Ainur Rohmah, Semarang – The Central Java provincial administration has been urged not to rush into re-sending workers abroad following the revocation of the moratorium on migrant workers being positioned in Malaysia.
The administration's position was based on several proven cases of abuse and other allegations of many migrant Indonesian workers confronted with violence in the neighboring country.
The Semarang Legal Resource Center for Gender Justice and Human Rights (LRC KJHAM) revealed that during the period between 1999 and 2011, the largest number of Indonesian workers facing the death penalty abroad was in Malaysia. There were 243 Indonesians on death row in Malaysia, followed by 29 in China and 28 in Saudi Arabia.
"It is apparent that in these countries Indonesian workers are still confronted by human rights violations against their freedom and their personal security," the center's information and documentation division head Irene Koernia Arifajar said in Semarang recently.
Similar experiences, she said, were also endured by other migrant workers from across all of Central Java, as shown by the significant increase in the number of cases – namely 46 cases involving 51 workers in 2010, rising to 107 cases involving 169 workers in 2011.
Of the 169 workers, she added, 21 had died, 13 were declared missing and eight were facing the death penalty, some in Saudi Arabia and China.
Central Java Provincial Manpower, Transmigration and Population Agency head Petrus Edison Ambarura confirmed that the provincial administration had been preparing to send migrant workers to Malaysia after the moratorium was revoked in December 2011.
"It does not mean that we do not consider [the impact of sending workers abroad]. What we do is try to deal with it as thoroughly as possible," Petrus said.
He added that before sending workers to Malaysia, the government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia in November 2011. The MoU, he said, comprised 11 points, six of which were new agreements.
The new points, among other matters, require that the passports have to remain in the possession of the Indonesian workers; that they deserve the rights to have one day off a week and a minimum payment of RM 800, which must be directly transferred to the worker's bank account.
"These will hopefully prevent disputes between Indonesian workers and Malaysian employers," Petrus said, adding that the MoU would be effective starting in March 2012.
He also said that the Malaysian government had agreed to increase salaries for Indonesian workers employed in the informal sector, up previously from Rp 1.2 million a month to between Rp 1.8 million and Rp 2 million.
Petrus said his agency had also been pioneering the objective of sending formal workers abroad, including barbers, spa therapists, cargo handlers and shop attendants.
LRC KJHAM director Fatkhirozi reminded the provincial administration not to be easily pacified by the six new points agreed upon between Indonesia and Malaysia, arguing that there was no clear control mechanism or law enforcement. "The government has to make sure that the revised MoU will not just allow for repetition of past mistakes," he said.