"Hopefully it can be enacted this year," the minister said during a seminar titled Migration Challenges - The Indonesian and European Union View.
She stated the law was now being revised to strengthen the protection for the workers mentioned in it. "The law only stated pregnant women are not allowed to become migrant workers while what we want to improve is the law about the presence of migrant worker and their families in the destination country," she said adding that members of parliament and the government had agreed on the articles in the law but had not yet formally passed them.
Meanwhile, the Monday conference itself was held to discuss issues related to migration and forced migration. The activity is hosted by the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Indonesian Council of World Affairs, the Austrian Embassy in Jakarta and the EU Delegation to Indonesia.
The conference examined the "push" and "pull" factors driving migration, illegal and forced migration, including poverty, economic opportunity, regional development disparities, legal frameworks and emerging issues such as climate change. It examined the impact that migration has on host communities, and the migrants themselves, and compared approaches taken to managing migration in the EU, Indonesia and ASEAN. It also deliberated on likely changes in migration flows that need to be anticipated now in the EU and Indonesia.
The event was rooted in Article 34 of the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Co-operation Agreement, signed in 2009, and was attended by high-profile speakers, including State Minister for Women`s Empowerment and Child Protection, H.E. Linda Amalia Sari, S.Ip., Professor Rainer Muenz, Senior Fellow at the Hamburg Institute of International Economics and Ambassador Dr Makarim Wibisono, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation and Chairman of the Governing Board of ICWA.
(Uu.A051/HAJM/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
