Dandi Bajuddin, Jakarta – The chair of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI), Hariyanto Suwarno, believes that climate crisis is the primary driver of many Indonesians seeking to work abroad. According to him, the decision to work overseas is not voluntary but rather the result of deteriorating livelihoods in the country.
"We have been trying to speak based on our data for years, but there has been no change. People are working overseas not out of choice but out of problems at home, such as climate change," he said during an interview with Tempo on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
Take the agricultural sector, for example, he said, where harvests often fail due to unpredictable climate, thus causing farmers to lose their livelihoods. "This situation has driven many women to work abroad, especially in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia, to support their families economically," he said.
Similar phenomenon is also happening in the fisheries sector. In Karawang, West Java, fishers now have to sail to Kalimantan due to the damaged marine ecosystem.
He also mentioned that fishers from Sukabumi are forced to catch fish as far as Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Not to mention the fishers from Tegal and Pemalang who are increasingly struggling to find fish in the polluted Java Sea.
As a result, many of them work as migrant fishing crew members on foreign vessels, vulnerable to exploitation. "It's heartbreaking that our friends who work overseas still lack protection to this day. Our data from BMI last year showed hundreds, even thousands, trapped in forced labor, human trafficking, and when they return to Indonesia, they still struggle to access legal justice," he said.
Hariyanto called on the government to address the connection between climate crisis, loss of livelihoods, and forced migration. He believes that the state should not only regulate the placement of labor overseas but also ensure comprehensive protection.
"Without concrete steps from the government to address the impact of the climate crisis and strengthen protection guarantees, Indonesian migrant workers will remain in a cycle of vulnerability, exploitation, and difficulty in accessing justice," he concluded.