Indonesian
migrant workers at a shelter provided by the Indonesian
Embassy in Abu Dhabi. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma) |
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Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government should conclude
bilateral agreements with countries that use Indonesian migrant workers
regarding the latter`s rights and obligations, a non-governmental organization
(NGO) said.
"Such
agreements will provide protection for our migrant workers abroad and prevent
violation of their rights," Nur Harsono, an activist of Migrant Care, said
here on Tuesday.
Harsono
made the statement in response to reports that a number of Indonesian workers
abroad were facing various legal charges for criminal acts and heavy violations
such as homicide and drugs.
About the
23 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia and around 300 more in Malaysia who were facing
the death sentence, he said the government needed to actively conduct lobbies
to obtain forgiveness or reduction of the their sentences.
Earlier,
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his annual state address said the
government had formed a task force specifically undertaking the crucial
diplomatic missions to defend Indonesian workers involved in legal cases
abroad.
"Thank
God, despite the highly-challenging nature of the mission, since every country
possesses its own system of justice, our efforts have come to show some
results. A number of Indonesian citizens facing death penalty have been granted
forgiveness and sentence reductions," he said.
Learning
from the experiences and lessons, he said, onward the supervision towards the
preparation and dispatching of Indonesian workers by the private employment
recruitment agencies (PPTKIS) would be constricted in order to ensure that the
workers about to be dispatched had thoroughly comprehend the law, rules and
norms applied in the destination country.
In relation
to bilateral agreement with destination countries, the president said the
government continues to work on diplomacy and negotiation with the government
of the friendly countries, so that through the right MoU, Indonesia Work Forces
could truly receive a good protection and assurance of their rights as well as
their justice.
He added
current policy to halt the dispatch of Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia was
also aimed to increase protection and right-assurance of the work force abroad.
"Truth
to be told, the decision is in line with the acceleration and broadening of
Indonesia`s economic development that we will undertake within the next 15
years, we hope there will be more job opportunities at home so that our
brothers and sister will no longer have to work in informal sectors and become
maids abroad. This is very important as it has to do with our dignity and self
esteem as a nation," he said.
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