VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Chief expert at the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), Fadjar Dwi Wishnuwardhani. (ANTARA/HO-Presidential Staff Office/KT) - 

Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) have thanked the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) for the help it extended in their safe and smooth repatriation from Hong Kong in accordance with the COVID-19 health protocols.

"We are grateful for the government's hard work, especially Mr. Moeldoko (Chief of KSP) and KSP that have paid attention to us in Hong Kong by handing out many masks since the pandemic began," said Nur Meliana, one of the Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong, according to a KSP press release received here on Friday.

Migrant workers who returned to the country were also provided free quarantine facilities, adequate food, and COVID-19 vaccines, Meliana noted.

However, Meliana, who is from Lampung, said she is worried that her colleagues, who returned home for annual leave, would not be able to go back to Hong Kong due to strict regulations there, especially the 21-day quarantine requirement.

"The problem is that the quarantine hotels are fully booked until the end of the year, even though many employers are willing to pay the hotel fees," she said.

In addition, according to her, Indonesian migrant workers planning to return to Hong Kong will also have to deal with constantly changing flight schedules. That is how the work visas of many migrant workers have expired, she explained.

Hence, she said she hopes that the Indonesian government can offer assistance to migrant workers who already hold Hong Kong identification cards.

KSP's chief expert, Fadjar Dwi Wishnuwardhani, said that KSP has coordinated with the Ministry of Manpower to provide assistance to PMI.

"We hope the Hong Kong government can give privilege to migrant workers," Wishnuwardhani said.

He also claimed that KSP has been intensively monitoring migrant workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This effort is in accordance with President Joko Widodo's direction to provide protection and convenience for migrant workers, both those who have returned to the country and those who are still abroad," he added//ANT