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Indonesia should protect its overseas workers, not ban them

New presidential proposal would ban domestics from working in foreign countries by 2017
Indonesia should protect its overseas workers, not ban them

Members of a support group for Indonesian maids Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and Kartika Puspitari, who were abused by their Hong Kong employers, hold placards as they attend a protest outside the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong on May 25, 2014 (AFP Photo/Anthony Wallace)

Published: February 17, 2015 11:02 AM GMT
Updated: April 24, 2015 01:57 PM GMT

Activists in Indonesia have slammed President Joko Widodo’s proposal to stop sending domestic workers overseas, saying the government should instead focus on protecting Indonesian workers rather than restricting their rights.

The criticisms come after Widodo this weekend suggested his government would ban Indonesian domestic workers from working abroad in order to protect the nation’s dignity. But labor and women’s rights advocates say such a move would be a setback.

“What we need right now is the protection of domestic workers,” Magdalena Sitorus, from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), told ucanews.com Tuesday.

She said many women would choose not to work as maids in other countries if the government could offer them better options at home.

“Is the government ready to offer job opportunities? Well, the government fails to do so,” she said.

Komnas Perempuan believes that banning domestic work abroad will have a huge impact on millions of women and their families, since many domestic workers have become the main breadwinners for their families.

According to data from the Ministry of Manpower, around 2.7 million Indonesian migrant workers, mostly women, are working in 10 countries — most of them employed as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. However, other estimates suggest the actual number could be much higher, particularly when factoring in undocumented migrant workers.

Rights groups say domestic workers face a disproportionate level of exploitation, often working with little access to aid or legal recourse if conditions are poor.

Cases of abuse frequently capture media attention in Indonesia. A Hong Kong court this month convicted a woman of assaulting an Indonesian maid over a period of several months in a case of abuse that advocates said amounted to “torture”.

But Widodo’s comments this weekend, which were made at a political party congress, are not the first time an Indonesian government has talked about refusing to send domestic workers abroad. Previous administrations have also issued moratoriums on domestic workers traveling to certain countries, such as Malaysia, following high-profile cases of abuse.

It’s also unclear how Widodo’s administration plans on replacing the income that domestic workers earn abroad. Domestic workers send home crucial income to their families in Indonesia, with remittances topping at least US$6 billion every year, according to the International Labour Organization.

Hanif Dhakiri, Indonesia’s minister of manpower, this week told media that Widodo was concerned about the plight of migrant workers.

“Seeing the suffering of Indonesian migrant workers, our dignity as a state, of course, is torn,” he said. “I think that is how [the] president feels. I feel the same.” He added that his ministry is preparing to outline steps that should be taken in order to make the plan happen. By 2017, he said, Indonesia should have zero domestic workers abroad.

However, advocates like Lita Anggraini, executive director of the National Network for Domestic Worker Advocacy (Jala PRT), say that choosing a decent job is every worker’s individual right.

“The government’s task is to make sure that domestic workers are protected. This is the government’s responsibility,” she told ucanews.com.

Wahyu Susilo, a policy analyst with Jakarta-based Migrant Care, said that his organization strongly opposes Widodo’s plan because it has the “potential to violate the constitutional right of every Indonesian to work decently”.

“A way out to end the bad situation faced by Indonesian domestic workers is that the state … protects them instead of running away,” he told ucanews.com.

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