Optimal governance is needed to protect our Indonesian migrant workers.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah on Wednesday said that synergy and collaboration must be pursued by all stakeholders at the central and regional levels in efforts to protect Indonesian migrant workers (PMIs) and prospective PMIs.

"Optimal governance is needed to protect our Indonesian migrant workers," she observed in a statement issued the same day.

As part of an effort to improve PMI protection, the ministry held a national coordination meeting for the task force for the protection of PMIs in Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday.

"This meeting is important to coordinate and evaluate the management of the protection of Indonesian migrant workers," she said at the meeting, which was themed "Arranging the Management of Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers."

According to Fauziyah, several efforts have been carried out to improve the governance of PMIs and their families. However, many challenges still need to be tackled in terms of regulations and practice.

"Therefore, we need innovation in the management of the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in accordance with Law Number 18 of 2017," she said.

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During the coordination meeting, Minister Fauziyah lauded the Indonesian migrant worker protection task forces at the central level and in 25 regional debarkation/embarkation areas, that have conducted socialization for village officials, overseas job seekers, families of migrant workers and prospective PMIs, and religious and community leaders.

She said she believes that with the setting up of the task force to protect PMIs at 25 debarkation/embarkation locations, the PMI migration procedures as well as placement and protection services would run transparently and professionally.

Based on the Manpower Minister’s Decree Number 37 of 2022, the task force's responsibilities include carrying out socialization regarding PMI protection, monitoring PMI placements, following up on allegations of illegal PMI placements, providing assistance to troubled PMIs abroad, and supporting PMI repatriation.

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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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