Morotarium on migrant workers has yet to stop illegal acts

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The morotarium on sending Indonesian Migrant Workers to the Middle East is regulated in the Ministerial Regulation Number 260 of 2015 concerning the Termination and Prohibition of Placement of Indonesian Migrant Workers to Individual Users to the region.

However, according to a statement received by Indonesia Window here, Monday, Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Agus Maftuh said the policy is still unable to close the hole for Indonesian citizens entering the region under illegal procedures.

A comprehensive policy is needed to resolve this employment issue, the Ambassador added.

The ambassador also explained that there are still many Indonesian migrant workers coming to Saudi Arabia via four airports in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Damam using visit visas, sharikah (company) visas and umroh (minor hajj) visas.

All the visa users are not registered in the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh or the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah. They are only discovered when they faced employment or legal problems in Saudi Arabia.

The ambassador believes that serving Indonesian citizens in Saudi Arabia is a noble deed.

However, Agus Maftuh hoped that there would be extraordinary efforts from all parties in finding an ideal solution regarding such illegal employment problems which also constitute humanitarian issues.

Commitment

A number of Indonesian citizens are now facing problems, including that on employment in Saudi Arabia, and they are now still in the country especially  in a shelter house provided by the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh.

In the company of the Citizens Protection Coordinator, Raden Ahmad Arief and Labor Attache Sakdulloh, Ambassador Agus Maftuh was learning stories told by a number of women staying in the shelter, especially those who are aged over 55 years.

“Before I end my assignment as an ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia and at the same time serving Indonesian citizens in Saudi Arabia, I will do my utmost to repatriate all of you to Indonesia,” the ambassador who has been serving three years and six months in Saudi said.

At the Indonesian embassy shelter, the ambassador also visited women who were sick. He asserted that the Indonesian Embassy would always help them with treatment and ease their burdens.

Reporting by Indonesia Window