Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has performed well in terms of economic growth in recent years. Average annual GDP growth between 1982-92 was recorded at 5.8%, making it the fourth-fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia. While the government may vaunt its economic achievements, the citizens of Indonesia have occasionally expressed their growing discontent over the administration's authoritarian rule. Close relatives of the president have gained control of some of the biggest and most lucrative industries of the country, including the finance and manufacturing sectors.
In 1996, a series of events, including a dispute surrounding the national car, President Suharto's trip to Germany for medical tests, and the Jakarta riot on July 27, made an unfavorable impression upon the international community. As a result, inflows of direct foreign investment dropped sharply from the robust levels of the preceding year. The financial crisis that hit Asia in mid-1997 has clouded business prospects in most Asian countries. In Indonesia the local currency plunged to a historic low of Rp 6,000 to the US dollar; banks were forced to close or merge; businesses went bankrupt, resulting in mass layoffs, a rise in unemployment, and social and political instability. Panic buying also occurred at the peak of the crisis. Even an IMF bailout of US$43 billion was unable to remedy the situation.
Presently, Indonesia has an appalling human rights record, and hence, is under constant criticism from rights activists. (At international meetings and gatherings such as APEC and ASEAN etc., the government of President Suharto is a frequent target among demonstrators). In 1966, following a bloody coup led by then-General Suharto that killed half a million people, the New Order government was established. Since then, the country has been under tight military control. The July 1996 riot, which was followed by a military crackdown on activists, did not escape the attention of international human rights advocates. Two of Indonesia's most prominent labor activists, Muchtar Pakpahan and Dita Sari are still languishing in jail. The right to self-determination in East Timor is another major international human rights issue; unfortunately, governments having good diplomatic ties with Indonesia are reluctant to approach the subject.
Indonesia, like its counterparts in ASEAN and APEC, is committed to the pursuit of liberalization policies and structural adjustment programs, with the ultimate goal of integrating the Indonesian economy into the global market.
During the early 1980s, the most popular destination for Indonesian migrant workers was the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. The rapid economic growth in some of the East and Southeast Asian countries brought a labor shortage at the onset of the 1990s, thus the flow of Indonesian migrant workers was diverted towards these regions. Among the Asian countries, Malaysia and Singapore host the majority of Indonesian migrants. At present, there are currently 1.95 million Indonesians working abroad, of which 65% are women. The workers are distributed among various sectors, such as agriculture, transportation, construction, electricity, gas and water supply, mining and quarrying, manufacturing and service sectors. Remittances as of 1996 amounted to approximately US$4.8 billion, of which US$1.5 billion was sent through bank accounts. The rest of the remittances were sent by post, carried by family members or friends, or taken along by themselves.
The economic significance of the export of labor for the Indonesian economy is clearly emphasized in the REPELITA VI (the 6th Five-Year Development Plan, 1995-1999), where a projected total of 1.25 million Indonesian migrant workers will be sent out. If the plan is implemented accordingly, there will be more than four million Indonesian migrant workers before the end of the millennium and a projected remittance of approximately US$ 8.5 billion.
The causes of migration in Indonesia are similar to those in many developing countries. The lack of local employment opportunities forces the unemployed to seek work overseas. But not only the unemployed are eager to work abroad; factory workers who are typically lacking employment security and receiving meager wages, or who work under exploitative conditions, are also motivated to become migrant workers. Uneven development is also a crucial factor. While some sectors of the Indonesian economy, such as infrastructure and manufacturing, are rapidly expanding, the agricultural sector has been neglected. Most people from the rural areas receive inadequate education. Moreover, when they migrate to the cities, their agricultural-based training is useless. This forces them to look for employment abroad. And because of their low education and lack of skills, women in particular are forced to take domestic work.
Like Filipinos and Thais, Indonesians seeking employment overseas face numerous problems. Such problems arise at the very start of the migration process. The bureaucratic application procedure and the lack of information leave applicants most vulnerable to exploitative agents. Applicants who are not well informed are typically too overwhelmed with the dream of earning money abroad to complain about excessive fees. In some cases, those who are unable to pay the required deposit prior to the processing of the documents are forced to borrow money from agents and charged excessive interest later. According to the law, placement fees should not be more than one-month's salary of the migrant worker, but brokers commonly breach the law with little or no monitoring and punishment.
Upon landing their new jobs abroad, migrant workers generally experience feelings of isolation and loneliness. Homesickness is a common problem. Poor working conditions and living standards, and disputes regarding payment and work descriptions are the most pressing issues. Domestic workers are less protected and face greater exploitation than any other group of migrants. The fact that they live in their employers houses means they are separated from other workers and do not have witnesses, or the protection of others, in cases of inhumane working conditions or physical and sexual abuse. In November 1997, an Indonesian domestic helper in Saudi Arabia barely escaped the death sentence for allegedly murdering her employer. Due to international outrage and diplomatic intervention, the sentence was reduced to a year of imprisonment. Another case of maltreatment last year was in Singapore, where an Indonesian maid was forced to eat dog feces by her employer. Aside from various forms of exploitation, domestic helpers are often excluded from labor legislation and government policies designed to safeguard workers against abuse.
According to Solidaritas Perempuan, a support group for migrant women, the cases involving migrant women between 1991 and 1997 alone include violence (515 cases), death (552) and labor-related injury (9,094). This however does not represent the actual number of cases, as the Department of Labour strictly withholds any information regarding maltreatment of migrants.
Indonesian policies towards labor exports are based solely on economic interests; social concerns are overlooked. Therefore, government responsibility towards the protection of migrant workers is discarded. The REPELITA VI is a vivid example. Its main emphasis includes how many migrants will be sent out, what the prospective labor markets are like, and how much these migrants can contribute to the national economy. The REPELITA VI also intends to gradually reduce the number of unskilled migrants, including domestic helpers, to zero percent. The government's logic behind this is that most of the violence committed against Indonesian migrants is on the unskilled sector. Given the problems faced by domestic workers, the government response should be more comprehensive. They could exercise their diplomatic power to establish bilateral agreements with receiving countries to protect rather than punish the migrants by recalling them. Like others, unskilled migrants also need to earn a living for their families and their personal futures. Also contributing to migrant misfortune are the constant warnings from Indonesian consulates for Indonesian migrants not to engage or affiliate with any labor organizations or support groups. In Hong Kong, for example, the consulate's mandate that migrants should present a good image of Indonesia is keeping most migrants from fighting back or seeking help even in situations of blatant abuse and exploitation.
The corrupt and opportunistic pre-departure process is a key contributing factor to migrants' misfortunes. Placement agencies are the first to take advantage of the applicants. Falsification of documents is widely practiced among brokers in order to fit the applicant into the job description. Commonly falsified documents include passports (particularly when there are age requirements), contracts and other working or travel documents. Double contract agreements are a common problem facing Indonesian migrant workers. For example, a contract that stipulates the type of work, salary, days off and incentives will not be honored in the receiving country. A migrant who is registered to work in the manufacturing sector commonly ends up doing domestic work.
A terrible, yet typical predicament occurs when applicants are unable to pay the placement fee. They are forced to sign a debt agreement, and the agency later deducts the fee from their salary at an astonishing rate of three times the original amount. Some workers have to pay the debt during their first six months, forcing them to go without an income during this period.
In general, pre-departure training is limited to formalizing the migration process; adequate information is seldom provided to prospective migrants on the country they are going to or on the nature of their future work. Instead, they are taught the obligations to their prospective employers, and how to answer questions frequently posed by immigration authorities. Consequently, pre-departure training often discourages them from understanding and utilizing their basic rights even before they leave the country. Prior to the final departure applicants are placed in a temporary boarding house under extremely inhumane conditions. For women migrants, this becomes a trap for sexual abuse; there are constant reports of sexual harassment by recruiting agents, officials, or guards. While waiting for a visa, they are vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. Most migrant workers would rather keep silent than report such cases for fear of shaming their families or losing the opportunity to work abroad after putting so much money and hope into working overseas.
This stage is a nightmare for the migrant worker who is unfamiliar with the situation, culture, type of work and language of the receiving country. Many Indonesian migrants are forced to work double shifts, often under other employers, by their own employers. Long working hours, underpayment, confiscation of passports and contracts, and denial of even the most basic rights are common problems faced by migrant workers. Moreover, feelings of isolation and potential problems arising from family back home can bring depression to many migrants. But when they have problems with the employers, they have nobody to whom they can turn.
The local recruiter/agency will give them little or no support when problems with employers arise. Instead, they are rejected and threatened since agencies tend to stand behind the employers' interests. Agencies are more interested in maintaining business profits than addressing workers' rights. Moreover, if migrants go to the embassy, they will be blamed for creating problems and giving a bad image to the Indonesian government. Some migrants eventually turn to non-governmental organizations or church groups who are willing to help them, but they still risk being targeted by the Indonesian authorities under the pretext of creating a bad image of the country. If he/she runs away from the employer without his/her working documents, a migrant's status becomes illegal, and consequently, is subject to other forms of exploitation.
Culture and religion create unique problems among Muslim Indonesian migrants serving non-Muslim employers. Domestic helpers in Malaysia have the most serious problems. For example, three Muslim women working in a beauty salon could not pray during hours of prayer. Two other women also ran away from their employer because they could not pray and had to cook pork for their employers. Aside from this, social life, particularly for domestic helpers, is often affected by the treatment of their employers. One Indonesian girl murdered the mother of her employer because she wanted to go out after months of being locked up and subjected to ill-treatment. According to a survey conducted by a migrant support group, most Indonesian housemaids, especially those who work for Chinese employers, mentioned that the doors and gates are usually locked when employers are out.
In most receiving countries, tough policies and punishments are laid down for undocumented migrants. Raids and detention are commonplace. Indonesia's close proximity to Malaysia is a contributing factor for the ever-increasing number of undocumented Indonesians in Malaysia. Unfortunately, migrants who are caught in raids or checked by police often end up being sent to prison camps where they are isolated from international monitoring. Consequently, governments and embassies overlook migrants who are trapped in this kind of situation since they tend to deal only with documented cases.
The Center for Indonesian Migrant workers (CIMW) was established to respond to precisely these types of problems that Indonesian migrant workers face. The lack of government initiatives to address the issues of migration at the national, regional and international level can no longer be ignored. Indonesian NGOs and migrant support groups through CIMW are in the process of establishing links and strengthening existing networks for receiving countries to better address these issues.
CIMW is a member of existing networks in Asia such as the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA). It has also built a partnership among local and regional support groups such as the Asian Migrant Centre in Hong Kong, Tenaganita in Malaysia and Ansan Migrant Shelter in Korea.
In Hong Kong, the first organization of Indonesian workers was established in 1996. Supported by institutions and NGOs, the group offers ongoing programs like a reintegration seminar on FDH contracts, and computer and bookkeeping training courses. This was a major breakthrough since everywhere the Indonesian consulates closely monitors their workers' activities and are strictly repressive towards migrants in terms of organizing or affiliation with migrant support groups. In a chance meeting with the Consul General and the Information Officer, the Indonesia Group in Hong Kong bravely asserted the legality of their organization, forcing the Indonesian consulate to recognize them.
The situation for Indonesian migrants is not improving. In recent years, documented cases of abuse and exploitation have soared; the number of undocumented migrants is also increasing. The government has addressed neither of these problems. Their attitude of ignoring ordinary cases of exploitation and their lack of initiative to create and implement safety mechanisms for migrants reflects a government that is only concerned with profit margins and the contribution of migrants toward Indonesia's economic development. The rights of migrants have never been on the government's priority list.
By taking a passive approach, the provisions laid out in the REPELITA VI are rather ambiguous in protecting the rights of migrants. Bringing back unskilled workers to Indonesia without creating much-needed jobs or a sound employment policy will only create bigger problems, such as a rise of undocumented migrants.
Based on the present situation and policy trends, Indonesian migrants can never rely on the government for protection. Thus, support groups should assume a more active role in helping migrants. This includes pressuring the Indonesian and receiving governments, to ratify international conventions protecting the rights of migrants, and to adopt and implement related policies.
This report was compiled from the following sources:
Horoni, Arthus J., Establishing Networks for Addressing Migrant Issues, Center for Indonesian Migrant Workers.
Ministry of Manpower (Indonesia), Indonesian Migrant Workers - Country Paper, submitted at the International Conference on Migrant Women Workers, October 7-9, 1997, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Purba, Lily, Nasiroh Case: good entry for addressing the migrant workers issue and pointing the weaknesses of protecting rights of migrant workers, (December 1997).
Susilo, Wahyu and Hayati, Selam Widi, Situation of Indonesian Migrant Workers, paper submitted at the International Conference on Migrant Women Workers, October 7-9, 1997, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Tjitoherijanto, Prijono, "Labor Market and International Migration: The Indonesian Case," Asian Migrant, January - March, 1996.