Govt to equip Indonesian migrant workers with cell phones

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 07/08/2011

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) signed an MoU with PT Nurkumala Abadi on providing cell phones to migrant workers sent to South Korea.

"It is highly expected that the cell phones will enable them to communicate with their family members and related government authorities in Indonesia more frequently," BNP2TKI's head Jumhur Hidayat said on Friday.

" Let’s hope that this reduces the amount of problems faced by migrant workers,” he added.

The government has sent 2,923 migrant workers to the country from January to July 4.

PT Nurkumala Abadi Hermin general manager Abdul Syukur said that before leaving to South Korea, the workers would be asked to complete a registration form. "Once they arrive in South Korea, they will receive cell phones just by showing the form," he said.

He said the company had committed to provide 8,000 to 10,000 cell phones each year.

According BNP2TKI data, 3,962 migrant workers were sent to South Korea in 2010 and 2,024 workers in 2009. The largest number of workers sent to South Korea was recorded in 2008 when 11,885 workers were sent there; almost tripling the 2007’s figure of 4,303 workers.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had earlier promised the public that he would provide every Indonesian migrant worker with a cell phone.