By : Agus *)
Indonesian migran workers who have been working abroad are at risk of exploitation and others harsh treatment. On another side, the problem will need a lot attention from ASEAN countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015. Particularly, The Foregin Ministry says it was currently negotiating with other ASEAN Countries to agree with the extra protection for migrant workers.
“We are pushing so that the documents can be used as a framework whenever there is a dispute [regarding the fate and welfare of Indonesian migrant workers] in the future,” the ministry’s director of ASEAN functional cooperation, George Lantu, said.
Previously, migrant workers has instrument which gave protection for them by the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (Cebu Declaration) in 2007. However, The Cebu Declaration have ambiguous about interpretations from some side.
In the current negotiations, the Indonesian government is also pushing for the instrument to be non-discriminatory, since there is concern that the AEC would discriminate against unskilled workers.
“The AEC’s blueprint only concerns the free flow of skilled workers. The question now is whether domestic helpers are deemed skilled workers or not,” George said further.
Beside of that, “There are still many loopholes, for instance the instrument prohibits the formation of labor unions, since not all ASEAN countries have labor unions. Also, there’s no standard on migrant workers’ wages.” Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) senior advisor on ASEAN, Yuyun Wahyuningrum said.
“In ASEAN countries, tuition fees are higher for foreigners than for locals. This is hard for migrant workers,” Yuyun emphasized.
Analyst Irine Hiraswari Gayatri from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) says that if ASEAN countries could not reach an agreement regarding protection for migrant workers, Indonesia could resort to bilateral diplomacy to protect its migrant workers.
In any case, many Indonesian migrant workers are victims of the harsh treatment by the agent or employer. Migrant Care noted, in 2010 the workers who died in the workplace amounted to 1,018 people, in 2011 (1,075) and in 2012 (1,080), the problem which Indonesian workers have been facing such as (harsh treatment, sex violance, death penalty, illness, etc)
*) Author Is Brunei Darussalam’s Contributor