Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A legislator has asked the government to partially lift its moratorium on the sending of Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) to the Middle East.

"The government had better allow the sending of limited number of TKIs to the Middle East. Regardless of the moratorium, illegal sending of TKIs continues to take place. Thus the government should allow the sending of TKIs to the Middle East on a limited basis," said Saleh Partaonan Daulay, the vice chairman of Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday.

Daulay who is a National Mandate Party (PAN) politician said it could be taken temporarily, rather than sending Indonesian workers to the Middle East illegally.

??? The dispatch of migrant workers on a limited basis is recommended by the legislator in an effort to reduce TKIs being sent abroad illegally. Yet limited basis dispatch should of course continue to be monitored and evaluated properly, he said.

?"In that way, the Indonesian migrant workers sent to the Middle East will remain safe and well treated," he said.

Daulay said his side had found many Indonesian laborers sent illegally amid the government`s moratorium on labor shipments to the Middle East region.

????Because there is a moratorium, the Indonesian workforce is sent through informal channels in various modes. Some are using tourist visa, umroh (minor hajj pilgrimage, family visits and others.

??"It`s a question of demand and supply, and in Indonesia many need jobs and are ready to go, while in the Middle East many need them," he said.



Reporter: Dewanto Samodro
Editor: Otniel Tamindael
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