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Govt will restrict migrant workers export to Saudi Arabia, says Cak Imin

NU Online  ·  Selasa, 23 November 2010 | 12:56 WIB

Jakarta, NU Online
Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin) said on Tuesday the government would restrict the dispatch of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia in light of the recent instances of violence against and maltreatment of Indonesian maids in that country.

Speaking at a seminar titled "Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace" at the Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta, the minister said the government would only send people with specific skills to overseas jobs.r />
"We will temporarily restrict the sending of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia by implementing tighter selection of workers to be sent to the country," Muhaimin said.

He did not deny that the restrictive policy was a step short of a moratorium on or a halt to the dispatch of manpower to Saudi Arabia.

"We are ready to cease dispatching workers to Saudi Arabia. However the issuance of such policy must be supported by a thorough investigation of the happenings and other related aspects such as insurance for the workers," Muhaimin said.

Meanwhile, over the short term , the manpower ministry would make sure that the process to recruit migrant workers also included efforts to make them fully ready for their jobs. He also promised to prepare better training programs for the workers including about legal protection system in the host country.

"We will also strictly supervise the issuance of training certificates for the workers. The requirement that people intending to work overseas have to go through a 200-hour training course must be implemented," he said.

"We will also appoint more labor attaches at Indonesian embassies abroad such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia who will attend to our migrant workers` interests there," Muhaimin said. (dar)