We cannot not let our workers be at risk of becoming victims of the conflicts abroad."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has temporarily stopped sending workers to Libya and Egypt due to the political crises in those countries, Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said.
"In consideration of the political upheavals in Libya and Egypt which could endanger the lives of our workers, the government has decided to stop sending workers to those countries for the time being," he said here on Tuesday.
He said Indonesia would resume sending workers to those countries only after the situation and conditions in those countries had become conducive again.
In view of this policy, Indonesian private manpower suppliers are not allowed to send workers to Libya and Egypt until further notice, he said.
"To ensure that the sending is stopped I have ordered the BNP2TKI manpower agency and services across the country to tighten monitoring to prevent violations," he said.
Muhaimin meanwhile said the government was now still studying whether or not to also stop sending workers to other countries in the Middle East which were facing conflicts.
"The government is very concerned about the safety of its workers in the conflict-ridden countries. We cannot not let our workers be at risk of becoming victims of the conflicts abroad," he said.
Regarding the evacuation of stranded workers in Saudi Arabia, the minister said the government was still making efforts to overcome the problem completely so that such incidents would not recur in the future.
He said the government repatriated 301 ovrestayers from Saudi Arabia on February 14, 335 on February 18 and 420 on February 23 and another 420 on February 28.
(T.A043/Uu.H-YH/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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