To prevent the illegal placements of migrant workers, regional governments can implement a more stringent overseas travel permit provision process, head of BP2MI, Benny Rhamdani, said at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday.
This would allow workers who are not complying with the procedures to be identified quickly, he explained after attending the “Free PMI from Illegal Syndicate Focus Group Discussion (FGD).”
This protection should be done from the upstream, he said.
The purpose of prospective migrant workers’ travel and of the people sending them must be determined. If the information is not clear, then a village clarification letter for such travel must not be issued.
Migrant workers whose placements are in contravention to the set procedures are highly vulnerable to falling victim to human trafficking, he informed.
They can potentially experience physical and sexual violence as well as face manpower issues as a result of not having legal work contracts, he explained.
They may be paid less than what they are promised or they may not even be paid since it is not described within the work contract, he added.
The BP2MI has handled the repatriation of 1,400 corpses of Indonesian migrant workers who fell victim to violence while working abroad, Rhamdani highlighted.
"We have handled the repatriation of 1,400 corpses and they were unofficial or illegal Indonesian migrant workers," he said.
There were also 2,400 sick Indonesian migrant workers. The agency managed to repatriate 95 percent of them to Indonesia.
In the many cases of violence involving illegal Indonesian migrant workers, a majority of the victims were women workers, he added.
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Translator: Azmi Syamsul M, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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