VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian Manpower Ministry has expressed support for labor reforms in Middle Eastern countries in the field of manpower placement.

During the Senior Officers Dialogue of the Asia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Taguig, the Philippines, Deputy Minister of Manpower Afriansyah Noor said that labor reform in the field of workforce placement is evident from the commitment to promote Goal 6 of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) and the achievement of the sustainable development goal (SDG) point 10.7.

The commitment includes efforts to reduce intra- and inter-state disparities, increase cooperation in protecting the rights and safety of migrant workers, as well as improving the governance of the placement of migrant workers, he added.

In Indonesia, this form of commitment has been manifested by the issuance of Presidential Decree Number 59 of 2017 concerning the implementation of the achievement of sustainable development goals, Noor said.

"In this case, GCM also has goals that are in line with the migration policy developed by the Indonesian government, namely a migration policy that is oriented toward protecting the rights of migrants, from their place of origin, transit point, destination country, to return to their homeland," he informed in a statement released in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Furthermore, to achieve regular, safe, and responsible migration, Noor said that the Indonesian government has carried out labor reforms by improving the service system and protection for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI), strengthening protection at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels, as well as increasing efforts to prevent problems occurring abroad.

This was carried out through the promulgation of Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which provides comprehensive protection to PMIs, a social protection system for PMIs, integrated services, PMI skill enhancement programs, strengthening the role of local governments, as well as access to accurate information, he added.
"This is our effort to improve PMI placement mechanisms, including providing access to authoritative information for PMI candidates as well as improving the overall protection system for PMI and their families," he said. (Reuters)