Chief of the Presidential Staff (KSP) Moeldoko stated that his office would help find solutions to the placement of prospective Indonesian Migrant Workers (CPMI) that face barriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“An immediate solution must be found to deal with the problems of prospective migrant workers’ departure because the placement of workers abroad is one way to accommodate a new workforce every year,” Moeldoko said while carrying out a field verification at PT Perwita Nusaraya, one of the placement companies in Sidoarjo, East Java, Sunday.
The field verification was carried out, as a follow-up to the meeting between KSP and the Association of Labor Service Companies (APJATI), last Tuesday (July 5), which revealed that tens of thousands of CPMIs could not be sent abroad.
Meanwhile, Moeldoko explained, one of the problems faced by Indonesian labor service companies is the non-optimal costing rules and the non-existence of cost component regulations for the receiving countries.
The cost component includes the requirements to become a CPMI, such as a health certificate, proof of competency certificate, and participation in state-owned Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).
The processing fee includes job training, transportation, and accommodation, while placement costs include making passport, medical check-up, psychological test, ticket, and visa.
“In certain countries like Malaysia, the cost components are borne by employers. But in other countries, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and (South) Korea, not all of the cost components are borne by employers or the governments. It needs an agreement between the sending country and the receiving countries, in line with the law that prevails in Indonesia,” Moeldoko said.
The government has actually offered financial help to the placement of migrant workers cost through the smallholder business credit (KUR) program, distributed by banks.
However, Moeldoko said some prospective migrant workers still found it difficult to apply for KUR due to the non-existence of cost regulation.
He revealed, based on data from the Finance Ministry’s Credit Program Information System (SIKP) as of July 15, 2022, the KUR absorbed by CPMI was only five percent or Rp17.6 billion out of the total allocation of Rp390 billion in 2022.
Source: Antara News