RI ASKS FOR ASEAN'S COMMITMENT ON WORKERS PROTECTION

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 14 (Antara) - Indonesia and the Philippines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are two largest migrant worker exporters which have been fighting for strong commitment to migrant worker protection.          Hence, during the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) encouraged members of the regional association to increase the protection of migrant workers in Southeast Asia.          At the ASEAN Summit, which is part of the series of activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN, Jokowi and other ASEAN leaders will sign the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers' Rights.          The ASEAN Consensus Document will be a concrete form of comprehensive protection for migrant workers as mandated by the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia.          Therefore, Indonesia called for a strong commitment by ASEAN member countries to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers in the 31st ASEAN Summit held in Manila, Philippines, 12-14 November 2017.          "It should not be a consensus only. Indonesia encourages all ASEAN member countries to properly guard and have the same commitment in implementing the action plan regarding the protection of migrant workers and their families, both legal migrants and migrants who have no proper documents," said Minister of Manpower M Hanif Dhakiri in press release in Jakarta on Monday.

GOVT NEEDS TO CLARIFY RUMORS ON ILLEGAL CHINESE WORKERS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 27 (Antara) - The government needs to clarify and provide comprehensive data on Chinese expatriates in Indonesia to scotch rumors on the influx of millions of illegal Chinese workers into the country.          The public can just believe in those rumors because a broadcast on national television recently showed the arrest of illegal workers, mainly Chinese. The directorate general for work safety and manpower supervision, for example, recently arrested 41 illegal Chinese expatriates.          Hopefully, the police will be successful in tracing an account on the Internet that is suspected to have uploaded a hoax message saying that about 10-20 million illegal Chinese workers have flooded Indonesia.          President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) himself has, at least, two times denied these rumors: first during his address to the 'declaration of national apprenticeship movement¿ in the Karawang International Industrial Estate in West Java on Friday (Dec 23), and later when he inaugurated a geothermal power plant (PLTP) in Minahasa, North Sulawesi on Tuesday (Dec 27).

SAUDI GOVT SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED RI OF ITS EXECUTION PLAN

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 15 (Antara) - The Saudi Government should have informed Indonesia its plan to execute Indonesian death convict Siti Zaenab who was found guilty of murdering her Saudi employer.          International law professor at the University of Indonesia (UI) Hikmahanto Juwana said the Indonesian Government could do nothing about the execution of its citizen because it concerned the legal sovereignty of Saudi Arabia.          However, the Saudi Government has made a consular mistake by carrying out the execution without notifying any Indonesian representative about it, the international law professor noted on Wednesday.         According to Hikmahanto, in accordance with international affairs, a nation has the obligation to notify countries concerned before executing their citizens.        Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged its strong protest and summoned the Saudi ambassador seeking an explanation with regard to the matter.

SATINAH FINALLY ESCAPES BEHEADING IN SAUDI ARABIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 4 (Antara) - Convicted Indonesian migrant worker Satinah, facing beheading for murder in Saudi Arabia, was finally freed from the death penalty after the Indonesian government and the victim's family agreed upon a 7 million Riyal diyat payment.         "We assure that Satinah can be freed from the beheading punishment because we have transferred another two million Riyal to the victim's family. They can disburse the money as of Sunday because banks are closed in Saudi Arabia on Friday and Saturday," Gatot Abdullah Mansyur of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI) stated in Jakarta on Thursday.          Earlier the government and the victim's family agreed to a payment in diyat (blood compensation money) of 7 million Riyal, of which five million was paid in cash and the remaining two million Riyal was to be paid in installments.          Satinah, 40, who hails from Semarang, Central Java, was found guilty by the Saudi Arabian court of killing her employer 70-year old Nura al-Gharib in the Gaseem area in early 2009 and of stealing her employer's money amounting to 37.9 thousand Riyals.          She was initially punished with absolute death penalty. But the appellate court reduced her sentence to the 'Qishash' death penalty, a death punishment that could be avoided by paying diyat or blood compensation money with amounts decided by the victim's family.          Satinah has been jailed since 2009 and was scheduled to be executed on April 3, unless the requested diyat of 7.5 million Riyal, which is equal to about Rp21 billion, is paid.          Gatot Abdullah Mansyur clarified that the diyat was not paid in installments but in cash, where two million Riyals have been transferred from Indonesia to the victim's family and five million others have been handed over through the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh.          Of the 7 million Riyals, three million has been paid by the government of Indonesia and the other four million by donors who sympathized with Satinah.

RI'S OVERSEAS FORMAL WORKER ROADMAP TO START IN SINGAPORE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 13 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has planned to stop exporting domestic helpers abroad in 2017 and replace them with sending skilled workers for recruitment in the formal sectors.         Most of Indonesian migrant workers overseas are so far domestic helpers who work   with individual employers so that they are prone to abuses like what have frequently happened to Indonesian house maids in Malaysia and the Middle East.          Therefore, Indonesia, which receives an average annual remittance of Rp100 trillion from millions of migrant workers in 116 countries, is planning to send only skilled workers in the formal sectors abroad.          "The interest of migrant workers could be guaranteed if they work in the formal sectors in various companies or organizations under official work contracts," Moh Jumhur Hidayat, the head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Workers Abroad (BNP2TKI), said here on Wednesday.