From time to time, Indonesian crew members, in particular, those aboard fishing vessels, frequently faced some problems. They are trapped in modern slavery at sea.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah acknowledged that Indonesian crew members, especially those working for foreign-flagged fishing vessels, are trapped in modern slavery at sea.

“From time to time, Indonesian crew members, in particular, those aboard fishing vessels, frequently faced some problems. They are trapped in modern slavery at sea,” Fauziyah noted during a web seminar on “Questioning Commitment of Multi-party in Protecting Indonesian Crew Members on Foreign Fishing Vessel” here on Wednesday.

Indonesian crew members were largely faced with problems of fraud, salary suspension, overtime work, and also physical and sexual harassment, the minister revealed.

Since several cases impacted Indonesian crew members on foreign-flagged fishing vessels, an improvement in the governance mechanism for the deployment of vessel crew members is the pressing need of the hour, according to Fauziyah.

Related news: Indonesia demands China's accountability for boat abuse

The minister highlighted the government’s unwavering efforts to bring about an improvement through regulatory accomplishment derived from Law No.18 of 2017 on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers formed into the government regulation (PP) for deployment and protection of crew members either working for commercial or fishing foreign-flagged vessels.

“We are waiting for the progress. The government regulation draft (RPP) for vessel crew member protection is recently being proposed to the State Secretariat,” Fauziyah stated.

Several cases of human rights violations involving Indonesian crew members took place due to the initial process in the country as a part of the entire process or the crew member deployment mechanism.

“Some problematic points are the processes of granting permit for the company that will deploy the crew members followed by the process of recruitment, data collection, training activity, certification, and then supervision,” she pointed out.

“This improvement necessitates synergy among ministries and institutions to realize better governance for the deployment and protection of our migrant crew members,” Fauziyah affirmed. Related news: MPR calls for investigation of Indonesian crew abuse on Chinese ship



Translator: Juwita Trisna Rahayu, Ade Irma
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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