Ink Migrant Worker Pact or Lose Face, Government Told

Nongovernmental organizations on Sunday urged the government to ratify the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers, warning the country could lose face with the international community if it further delayed legal protection for its citizens overseas.

“If we don’t ratify this convention, Indonesia will lose its image, in both the national and international arenas,” international law expert Enny Soeprapto told a discussion.

“They will think that we are not protecting [our overseas workers]. This also shows the government is not strongly committed to protecting its citizens, whereas this is its obligation.”

He added that by ratifying the convention, the country would have a good bargaining position which it could use to protect its people overseas as well as minimize the risk that Indonesian migrant workers would suffer abuses that could lead to death.

“It is because this convention will regulate the processing of our migrant workers, from their recruitment, departure, transit, replacement and insurance until they return to Indonesia,” Enny said.

Restu Hutabarat, a public defender from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH), labeled as ridiculous the government’s reason for refusing to ratify the convention. The government is worried that ratifying the convention would burden it with the needs of foreign workers in the country.

“It is ridiculous if they say the foreign workers will burden the country, as if those [foreigners] working here would be paid based on Indonesian standards,” Restu said.

NGOs such as the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), the People Alliance for Migrant Convention 1990 (ARAK 90), the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) met with Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Erman Suparno on Thursday to urge the government to protect migrant workers. However, Restu said their efforts were fruitless.

“But we are not going to stop our efforts to push for the ratification of this convention as we hope the new government can adopt it,” Restu said. “We can change their mind by evaluating the protection of migrant workers in the first 100 days in office of the new government.”

She also said the fact that the government recommended instead of ratified the convention meant it refused to recognize international standards of human rights. “It is because based on international law, a recommendation is weaker than a convention,” she said.

Rieke Diah Pitaloka, the country’s ambassador for migrant workers, said the government had always argued that it was difficult to protect workers abroad as many were undocumented.