Indonesian Migrant Workers Most Unpaid in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia
- ANTARA/Ismar Patrizki
Jakarta – Many Indonesian migrant workers are attracted to work in Saudi Arabia because in this country only need an Umrah or pilgrimage visa to work. Unfortunately, both countries employ them non-procedurally and without official documents, according to the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI).
In addition, many Indonesian workers choose to work in Malaysia because the country has many border entry points with Indonesia, making it easier for migrant workers to enter without official documents.
"This status (without official documents) makes the position of Indonesians vulnerable in the destination country," said the Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens and BHI at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha in Jakarta, on Thursday.
Direktur Perlindungan WNI Kementerian Luar Negeri RI, Judha Nugraha.
- VIVA/Natania Longdong.
According to Nugraha, the two countries have the largest number of Indonesian communities and many Indonesian migrant workers who work in the domestic sector.
Therefore, problems or cases involving Indonesian Migrant Workers are mostly found in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, such as cases of mistreatment of unpaid migrant workers.
Nugraha said that immigration problems of Indonesians abroad, including those without official documents, are the most common cases found among other cases such as labor, hostage-taking, trafficking, and Hajj and Umrah issues.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also highlighted cases of protection of Indonesian citizens this year, including the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Sudan, and handling cases of Indonesian citizens employed to commit online fraud or online scams.
As information, for the evacuation of Indonesians from Sudan, as of June 2023, Indonesia has evacuated 1,010 Indonesians. The evacuation was carried out in response to the military conflict between the Sudanese army and Sudanese paramilitary forces RSF.
Meanwhile, related to online fraud, these cases still occur a lot until 2023, with the number of cases that have been handled until July 2023 totaling 2,324 cases.
Overall, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has handled 17,977 cases of Indonesian citizens abroad out of 18,820 cases that entered until mid-2023.
