Most of the problems afflicting Indonesians working overseas stem from problems at home. So many are compelled to work abroad because they can't find jobs here at all; or, if they find one, wages are too meager to feed a family. Responsibility for the labor market's failure to provide citizens enough decent-paying jobs lays squarely at the government's feet.

Jumpstarting job growth for a developing nation of 250 million people is a tough task. But it's not too much to expect the government ensure its citizens' ability work abroad without being taken advantage of – or at the very least with the protection of their destination country's laws.

Yet we learn daily of Indonesians falsely imprisoned, abused, tortured or killed with impunity. The government has failed in its duty to prepare migrants.

Despite large training budgets, most workers go abroad without necessary survival skills, let alone language or basic cultural knowledge. In absence of an explanation by the feuding Manpower Ministry and National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI), we have no reason not to believe officials have diverted money meant for migrants' benefit toward their own.

Despite persistent news reports that placement agencies mistreat migrants or put them in the hands of those who cheat and abuse them, seldom do we hear of any repercussions, let alone prevention.

Indonesia must not shy from using its full diplomatic leverage to forge and enforce agreements with receiving countries that assure our workers' protection. Passports must be kept by workers, not their employers. In addition, agencies that send workers abroad should provide employer data to embassies. Until officials do their jobs, Indonesians abroad are in for a world of abuse.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-migrants-blood-officials-dirty-hands/