RI-Malaysia Harus Bangun Komitmen

RUMGAPRES/ABROR RIZKI

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Kamis, 12 November 2009 | 06:32 WIB

KUALA LUMPUR, KOMPAS.com - Pertemuan bilateral antara Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Najib Abdul Razak di Kuala Lumpur, Rabu (11/11), harus efektif. Pemerintah kedua negara harus membangun komitmen melindungi tenaga kerja Indonesia di Malaysia yang kuat.

Kunjungan Presiden Yudhoyono ke Malaysia termasuk yang pertama kali ke luar negeri sejak dilantik untuk periode kedua, 20 Oktober lalu. Sedikitnya sebanyak 1,2 juta TKI berada di Malaysia dengan separuh di antaranya bekerja tanpa dokumen resmi dan di sektor informal.

Menteri Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi (Mennakertrans) Muhaimin Iskandar turut mendampingi Presiden. Muhaimin akan melanjutkan pertemuan bilateral dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri Malaysia Hishammuddin Tun Hussein dan Menteri Sumber Manusia S Subramaniam.

Muhaimin mengatakan, Indonesia siap mencabut moratorium pengiriman TKI ke Malaysia selama Pemerintah Malaysia berkomitmen meningkatkan perlindungan dan kualitas kesejahteraan TKI.
Indonesia menghentikan penempatan sementara TKI pembantu rumah tangga ke Malaysia sejak 25 Juni lalu akibat berbagai pelanggaran hak asasi TKI. Perundingan kali ini membahas perbaikan perlindungan dan kondisi kerja TKI di sektor rumah tangga.

Pemerintah Malaysia diharapkan segera melakukan evaluasi dan pembenahan dalam mekanisme, kondisi kerja, serta perlindungan TKI. ”Perundingan ini mudah-mudahan menghasilkan kesepakatan yang berpihak pada TKI. Kita targetkan tanggal 21 November ini semuanya beres,” ujar Muhaimin.
Wakil Ketua Asosiasi Perusahaan Jasa TKI (Apjati) Rusdi Basalamah berharap ada titik temu substansial berkait hak dan perlindungan TKI.

Hentikan TKI ilegal
Indonesia juga harus mendesak Pemerintah Malaysia menghentikan pemakaian jasa TKI ilegal. ”Sejujurnya penghentian (saat) ini tidak memberi efek jera bagi pelaku ilegal (dan) yang terjadi justru PPTKIS resmi berhenti beroperasi. Yang eksis malah yang tidak ada perlindungan kepada tki sama sekali,” kata Rusdi Basalamah.

Analis Kebijakan Migrant CARE Wahyu Susilo di Kuala Lumpur mengatakan, perlindungan TKI harus menjadi agenda utama kunjungan Presiden Yudhoyono ke Malaysia.

Menurut Wahyu, Presiden Yudhoyono harus memastikan Malaysia memproses secara hukum kasus-kasus penganiayaan TKI oleh majikan dan RELA—satuan masyarakat sipil yang berwenang menangkap dan menahan pekerja asing ilegal, serta memastikan nota kesepakatan (MOU) soal penata laksana rumah tangga menghasilkan ketentuan tentang hak TKI memegang paspor, upah layak, dan satu hari libur.(Hamzirwan dari Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Editor: jimbon

Sumber : Kompas Cetak
http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/11/12/06323789/ri-malaysia.harus.bangun.komitmen

NGOs blame govt for inadequate protection

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 11/02/2009 1:47 PM  |  Headlines

Labor rights activists urged the government to be more proactive in protecting Indonesian migrant workers that have fallen victim to abuse.

Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), Rekson Silaban, said the government had never actively raised its voice at international summits on migrant workers.

"Indonesia mostly sends its delegate, who does not have the authority to speak up at such summits," he said Friday.

"Consequently, the country's migrant workers are not adequately represented."

Rekson said the government had never taken measures against migrant worker agencies charging exorbitant service fees.

"They are often charged between Rp 10 million *US$1,045* and Rp 20 million for services provided.

"As a result, many employers do not pay the workers in the first six months of their occupations because they have to pay the agent back," he said.

Many Indonesian migrant workers have been violently abused by their employers since Indonesia began sending workers overseas in the 1980s.

Muntik binti Bani, for example, was an Indonesian worker in Malaysia who died last Monday, allegedly due to violent abuse by her employers. Her body was returned to her hometown in Jember, East Java, on Saturday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set to visit Malaysia in the near future to discuss several issues, including migrant workers.

Anis Hamidah, executive director of Migrant Care, said Indonesia had made very little improvement in its policies on migrant workers.

"Although the government has made efforts to negotiate holidays and minimum wages, there has been no improvement in the condition of migrant workers as yet," she said.

"Our bargaining power is very weak. Malaysia knows that Indonesia cannot provide employment for its low-skilled citizens."

Anis said with no job opportunities at home, domestic workers were forced to seek employment abroad.

She also said the Foreign Ministry did not provide protection for migrant workers in trouble abroad.

Hendardi, chairman of Setara, a human rights NGO, recently said the government's continuous delay to ratify the 1990 UN Migrant Workers Convention, in which Indonesia is a signatory, had worsened the condition of migrant workers.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said Friday that he would work toward the ratification of the UN convention within five years of his tenure.

It will be up to the House of Representatives to ratify the convention. (nia)

Source: The Jakarta Post

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/11/02/ngos-blame-govt-inadequate-protection.html