Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Placement and Employment Expansion Director General (Binapenta and PKK) Maruli A. Hasoloan called for the government and stakeholders, including the mass media community and Civil Society Organizations, to synergize to tackle migrant workers' issues.

"The government has taken several steps to enhance the governance system for Indonesian migrant workers (PMIs) at home and abroad," Director General Hasoloan noted in a press release, Jakarta, Saturday.

To safeguard and serve migrant workers at home and abroad, the government has forged collaboration and inked a memorandum of understanding with various countries, including for providing social security for PMI.

"Other migrant workers can be protected from different forms of harmful exploitation by cooperation through trial and error of the one channel placement system," he remarked.

He explained that currently, a new One Channel is being implemented in Saudi Arabia.

"Now we are endeavoring to see that it is applied in all countries (PMI placement)," he noted.
The One-Stop Integrated Services (LTSA) and Productive Migrant Villages (Desmigrative) programs are in place for the protection of migrant workers in the country.

In the meantime, Director of Foreign Workers Placement (PTKLN) Eva Trisiana stated that the Indonesian and Japanese governments are planning to soon ink a memorandum of cooperation in the field of Specified Skilled Workers (SSW) in the near future.

"As of April 1, 2019, the Japanese government has issued a new policy for immigration regulation, in the form of a new residential status -- Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) -- for foreign workers, who will work in Japan," Trisiana revealed.

Trisiana stated that Japan had opened employment opportunities for Foreign Workers (TKA) under the SSW scheme in 14 sectors, with a total workforce requirement of some 345 thousand over a five-year period.

Trisiana remarked that the job opportunities were open based on the fact that Japan's aging population continued to increase, so in order to meet the needs of productive age workers, it has to recruit TKA.

He noted that the Ministry of Manpower was firmly committed to protecting the interests of PMI and their families to ensure that their rights before, during, and after work are fulfilled.

EDITED BY INE

Translator: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019