The Head of Centre for Migrant Research and Study (Migrant CARE), Anis Hidayah, appreciates the result of consensus on migrant workers protection at the 31st ASEAN High-Level Conference which was held in Manila, Philippines. According to Anis, this decision will be implemented in every nation. “We hope all members of ASEAN will respect the decision because it is for the sake of ASEAN community who becomes migrant workers,” said Anis Hidayah during the seminar which was held by Faculty of Law UGM entitled Transnational Organized Crimes: Multidimensional Legal Perspective at University Club UGM on Thursday (16/11).
This consensus, according to Anis, is supposed to be an instrument in the realization of the commitment to protect the migrant workers overseas. “Thus, the migrant workers can obtain protection and respect from the state where they work,” she added.
The issues faced by migrant workers so far include no optimal protection from the state as well as the granting of the right to obtain information, the right to communicate, and the right to build an association in the state where they work.
Anis said currently, there are 6 million migrant workers from Indonesia who work overseas. “Around 80% of them are women who work in the informal sector. They often face various problems while most of them work as a housemaid,” said Anis.
Despite contributing as many as 116 trillion rupiahs to Indonesian foreign exchange, they are often mistreated by their boss in real life. “All this while, they did not obtain protection. As ‘heroes of foreign exchange’ as the saying goes, they are supposed to obtain protection,” she added.
Related to the ratification of Law Number 39 in 2004 regarding Placement and Protection towards Indonesian Workforces Abroad, Anis hopes the migrant workers will really have the rights to obtain information, the rights to communicate, the rights to obtain education and training as well as the right to establish an association. “It requires seriousness from the stakeholders as well as the role of the community and academicians to monitor the implementation of this law,” she added.