Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah has assured that the government will continue to make efforts to improve protection of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI), including women workers who are vulnerable to exploitation.
“The government has carried out a labor migration governance reform to improve the quality of worker protection, which is carried out thoroughly,” she said at the launch of the ‘Technical Guidelines for the Implementation of Gender Responsive Services and Protection for PMI’ here on Wednesday.
One of the efforts to boost workers’ protection has been the issuance of Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, the minister added.
The law gives the government the responsibility and mandate to improve coordination as well as legal, economic, and social protection of Indonesian migrant workers.
The protection must be given to workers before they work, during work, and after they have finished their work period.
To this end, the Ministry of Manpower, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Indonesia, has designed the technical guidelines in accordance with Article 2 of the PMI Protection Law, which prescribes that the protection of PMI uphold the principle of gender equality and justice.
The minister emphasized that gender-responsive does not mean giving privileges to women migrant workers but applying the principles of gender equality and justice and equal rights for all migrant workers.
However, female migrant workers are indeed more vulnerable to exploitation, she noted.
“It provides protection, fulfillment, and responsive handling of the different needs of various existing gender groups,” she remarked.
Source: Antara News