Suara Migran Indonesia: Migrant Workers Have to Talk About Violations of Their Rights
On August 25, 2023, at 8PM JKT and 9PM HK/Macau/Taiwan, the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) together with partner organizations organized the Migrant Voices online program. Migrant Voices is an online program that is held every two months and is a platform for migrant workers to voice their situation and struggles. This August episode co-hosted with Indonesia's partner organizations and highlighted the ASEAN Summit to be held in early September.
Eni Lestari, Chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance stated that there has been no significant impact from ASEAN on migrant workers. Eni hopes that ASEAN will not only pay attention to investment and trade issues, but also pay great attention to the welfare of the people, especially migrant workers.
Daniel Awigra, Executive Director of Indonesia's Human Rights Watching Group (HRWG) stated that ASEAN already has several agreements related to migrant workers, but a stronger implementation tool is needed than just an agreement and an independent team to carry it out, and an accountability mechanism is needed when a country does not implement or breaking the deal. In addition, ASEAN must also increase the participation of grassroots migrants in discourses on migrant workers.
Several concrete issues that occurred in the field and had a great impact on migrant workers were conveyed by several organizations of Indonesian migrant workers, both those outside the country and those inside the country. These issues can be a concern for ASEAN leaders.
Sringatin, Coordinator of the Hong Kong Indonesian Migrant Workers Network (JBMI) and Chair of the Hong Kong Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU) explained about the job-hoping accusations leveled by the Hong Kong Government against migrant workers in Hong Kong. Allegations of job hoping are accusations against migrant workers that they like to terminate contracts and change employers. According to her, the accusation of job hoping is a myth and does not protect the rights of migrant workers. If migrant workers' rights are protected, working conditions are good and there is no violence, migrant workers will not terminate their contracts, she said. Because terminating the contract has a very long impact on migrant workers, including having to start the placement process again from the beginning, paying a fee again and while waiting for the process for about two to three months, they are not allowed to work, meaning there is no income. This visa restriction practice does not only occur in Hong Kong but also in other placement countries, but in Hong Kong it is very clear.
Yosa, Chairperson of the Macau Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU) explained the lack of protection for Indonesian migrant workers in Macau. In fact, several prospective migrant workers who were going to work in Macau were unable to leave and had their passports detained because they were suspected of being human trafficked, while they already held the documents needed to work legally in Macau. To work in Macau, you don't have to go through P3MI, she explained, but the government requires you to go through P3MI which costs a lot. In addition, Macau is also not recognized as a placement city, while in fact there are Indonesian migrant workers in Macau who work with complete documents and are not overstayed. The lack of services and protection provided for Indonesian migrant workers in Macau is indeed very disappointing, she said.
Fajar, Chairperson of the Taiwan Solidarity Workforce or Ganas Community explained about buying and selling jobs carried out by agencies. In Taiwan, Indonesian migrant workers must pay agency fees every month while they work. However, no services are provided by agencies for migrant workers. Indonesian migrant workers can be laid off for reasons of crisis, then they must find work on their own after being laid off. Agencies do not look for jobs as part of the services that have been paid for by migrant workers every month, but carry out job buying and selling, where Indonesian migrant workers are forced to buy jobs at very high prices, but there is still no job security. One of our demands is to abolish the agency system in Taiwan, she said.
Karsiwen, Chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Family (KABAR BUMI) conveyed about human trafficking. According to her, the mode of human trafficking is growing, and the target is also growing. One of the reasons for this vulnerable situation to human trafficking is the result of rampant poverty in Indonesia, the difficulty of getting a job with a decent wage, and the high unemployment rate, she said. Law enforcement related to human trafficking is also still very limited, only small recruiters are arrested in rural areas, not many TIP cases reach the trial stage and TIP victims also have not received justice.
Erwiana, a member of Beranda Perempuan conveyed about the situation of former migrants. They found that former migrants did not receive social aid from the government because former migrants were considered rich, so that former migrants had to deal with expensive health, electricity, education, and other social costs. Former migrants also do not have the opportunity to get a formal job in Indonesia because there is very tight competition for jobs and the age of former migrants is no longer young. For entrepreneurship, former migrants are unable to compete with large companies that have mastered the market and technology. Apart from that, there is still a negative stigma towards former migrants who are considered to have done indecent work while they were migrant workers. Thus, local and central governments are expected to pay attention to issues experienced by former migrants and help better reintegration of former migrants.
The various problems above, although they have been fought for quite a long time, have not yet received attention and solutions from the Indonesian government. To continue to encourage the government to provide protection for migrant workers, migrant workers must have the courage to speak out, organize, build networks and alliances, and build a migrant worker movement.
#MigrantVoices #SpeakOut #Organize
