Sylvia Yazid, Melbourne – It has been more than three decades since the first wave of Indonesians left the country to work overseas. The labor migration system has grown to be far more complex than it was in 1970s.

The number of workers has increased, more stakeholders are involved, more countries have become the destination of these workers, more requirements have to be fulfilled, but sadly, various problems are still entailed.

The migration system is still suffering from bad and illegal practices and protection remains low. Problems occur at every stage of the migration process. In fact, the government, migrant labor advocates and scholars have acknowledged that 80 percent of the problems occur even before the migrant workers leave Indonesia.

If the placement of Indonesian workers overseas is seen as a piece of pie, one can say that many stakeholders have been enjoying the pieces. Some fortunate migrant workers have enjoyed a slice which takes the form of employment and considerable amount of salaries. They have also invited their families and the society in their hometown to enjoy the economic benefit. Some areas of origin for migrant workers have experienced significant economic growth, fueled by the increased spending powers of the returned migrant workers.

Another slice is taken by the government. Labor migration has become one of the solutions for reducing Indonesian unemployment rate. Virtually no one will argue that the remittances brought in by these migrant workers have become one of the main incomes for the country's economy.

A quite big slice has been shared among the business entities. Labor agencies, transport providers, training centers operators and even the middlemen.

The above are only some of the stakeholders inside the country. It has not included labor agencies, employers and governments of the destination countries. Furthermore, there are other slices and crumbs taken illegally by some "invincible" and "irresponsible" stakeholders.

There is a need for focusing more on the protection of migrant workers cake. A slice of the protection of migrant workers cake should be taken by the government by making and implementing policies which provides more protections on the migrant workers' rights. So far, the protection efforts are still patchy and uncoordinated.

Law No. 39/2004 on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas has been criticized by migrant labor advocates for its weakness in the protection clauses. Moreover, the government has limited sources to reach the origin areas of migrant workers and monitor the long and problematic process of migration.

Thus, sharing the slice with other stakeholders, like the civil society, should be one of the main considerations. There are migrant workers unions and migrant workers non-governmental organizations that are concerned about the issue and have been making efforts to improve the protection of migrant workers.

To a certain degree, NGOs have been acknowledged by some related ministries to be sources of inputs in making and implementing policies on labor migration.

One possible way of sharing the "protection of migrant workers" cake between the government and the civil society is by involving the civil society more in policy making and implementation.

NGOs, with their field experience in advocating migrant workers' cases, could provide valuable inputs for making policies which ensure more protections for migrant workers.

Moreover, in terms of policy implementation, NGOs might be able to reach the areas of origin and approach the migrant workers community. Problems faced by Indonesian domestic workers can be caused by a lack of information.

Some NGOs have started to conduct discussions, trainings and information sharing in some areas of origin. Activities like these, if conducted in a wider scope and more coordinated, most likely will help in improving the protection of migrant workers.

Monitoring for bad and illegal practices at each stage of labor migration process is another highly needed but badly implemented task. The government has limited resources in monitoring the whole process.

Some NGOs have conducted monitoring activities at some crucial points of labor migration process. If government and NGOs monitoring efforts can be combined or coordinated, it may turn into a more comprehensive monitoring mechanism

At the end of the day, role-sharing should be the main concern. If the placement of migrant workers pie is shared by many stakeholders, the same stakeholders should be willing to share the protection of migrant workers cake.

It might not be as tasty and requires more effort, but it will improve the condition of Indonesian labor migration and bring more benefit to those who actually deserve it.

On a small scale and for particular cases, cooperation between the government and NGOs does exist. The challenge is to maintain, develop and expand it, in a quest for protecting Indonesians working overseas.

[The writer is a lecturer at International Relations Department, Parahyangan University, Bandung and a PhD candidate at School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne.]