"Many have touched on the number of foreign workers (in the country), and we made assurance that their number is not more than 100 thousand," he noted at a function marking International Migrant Worker Day held at Cikembar Village, Sukabumi District, West Java, on Tuesday.
He said the government had restricted the activities of foreign workers in Indonesia, including banning them from setting up a manpower organization.
In addition, the government only allowed foreign professional workers to work in Indonesia in accordance with their educational backgrounds, he noted.
With the information on the number of foreign workers, the public will be able to gain an objective understanding of foreign workers employed in the country.
The number of foreign workers is accurate, and the people are urged to not be easily provoked by the issue of foreign nationals employed in the country.
Meanwhile, the number of Indonesian migrant workers employed abroad reached nine million, according to the World Bank data.
All Indonesian migrant workers employed abroad are protected in accordance with Law No. 18 of 2017 on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers, he stated.
He said Indonesian migrant workers sent abroad in future will not merely be employed as workers, but they will also be professional workers.
As such, the welfare of Indonesian migrant workers will be better, as their salaries will be much higher than now.
"The opportunity to work abroad is wide open. In future, we want to increase the quality of migrant workers employed in the formal sector and that their welfare will improve," he noted.
Reporting by Aditia Aulia Rohman
(S012/INE/a014)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
