VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Since 2014, East Lombok District has become the origin of most migrant workers in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said.

"As we all know,  with a total of 117,782 migrant workers dispatched since 2014,  East Lombok District is the biggest contributor of Indonesian Migrant Workers in West Nusa Tenggara, " she said in commemoration of International Migrant Day 2022 here Sunday.

She said that until 2022, one of the villages in that area, Anjani Suralaga, has sent 615 residents to work overseas. Seventy percent of them work in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Following the reopening of Malaysia as one of the destinations for work, 100 people have registered to work in the neighboring country as of December 2022.

"The (salaries) the migrant workers receive are expected to help improve the living standards or welfare of themselves and their families. The money the workers transfer also contribute to economic development in East Lombok District and its surroundings," she informed.

Despite the fact that working abroad is an option,  she hoped that those deciding to be migrant workers need to do that if they have well been prepared and understood all potential risks of working overseas.

She suggested that those who are interested in becoming migrant workers prepare themselves with required skills and complete documents, seek as much information as possible —either through the migration service center at the village office, or through the One-Stop Integrated Service (LTSA), or the Manpower Office.

The ministry has a program called Productive Migrant Villages to empower, protect and serve migrant workers and their families starting from village scope, all of which are done in collaboration with other ministries and agencies.

She noted that the program could benefit both the villages involved in it and the surrounding ones too. In order to provide best protection for the migrant workers from the beginning to end of their working contracts, she urged every stakeholder —from central to village scope— to conduct the functions and roles according to their authorities.

“Don't be easily persuaded by momentary sweet temptation that brings high risks. If we love our family members, our children, and our neighbors, let's remind each other, to take procedural routes, for the sake of safety and comfort at work, so that the aims and objectives of working abroad can be fulfilled," she reminded. (antaranews)