Jakarta, April 21 (Antara) - With over seven million jobless people at home, Indonesia needs to enhance employment for its domestic workers and to protect them from the onslaught of expatriates.
Hence, the issuance of the government regulation simplifying the procedure for the recruitment of expatriates has been questioned by legislators.
Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives Taufik Kurniawan has questioned the government to explain Presidential Regulation No. 20 of 2018 on the recruitment of expatriates to avoid misperception among the people.
"We ask, in this case, the Manpower Ministry (Kemenaker), to explain whether the public opinion is true that the presidential regulation is a threat to Indonesian workers," Kurniawan noted in Jakarta on Friday.
The government should tender an explanation on the presidential regulation, as it raises multiple interpretations and could spiral into a political debate.
Earlier, on Thursday, Kurniawan's colleague Fadli Zone, who is also vice chairman of the House of Representatives, criticized the presidential regulation, which he said would harm the interests of local workers.
"Through the integration of the ASEAN economy and ratification of international cooperation, even without relaxing the regulation, the inflow of foreign workers is inevitable," Zon stated, adding that under such circumstances, it is important to protect local workers from the influx of foreign workers.
Kurniawan said the presidential regulation raises concerns among the local people, as the presence of foreign workers will threaten the existence of Indonesian workers.
"The people judge that it will lead to potential losses, as the regulation relaxed recruitment procedures. Thus, the selection process for expatriates is easy. The qualifications were also unclear, both for blue-collar and white-collar workers, which will all hurt our workforce," he noted.
Kurniawan, who is also the vice chairman of the Central Board of the National Mandate Party, said the idea to form a Special Inquiry Committee on the new regulation is up to Commission IX of the House of Representatives to decide.
He emphasized that the House Leadership could not take any decision before the Commission IX decides on the matter. Hence, the people should await the internal process of the House's Commission.
"Aspirations exist, but the people need to wait for the process whether the special committee will be formed. We leave it to Commission IX to decide whether there should be a special committee," he explained.
Earlier, Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives Fahri Hamzah proposed the formation of a House Inquiry Committee on foreign workers, as he suspected that the government's regulation related to foreign workers had violated the law.
Hamzah believes the move was necessary, as the arrival of foreign workers without proper procedures had taken place before and after the presidential regulation was prepared.
However, Ace Hasan Syadzily, another legislator of the Golkar Party, expressed hope that the people would not overly respond to the presidential regulation on expatriates.
"Do not be too excessive in responding to the presidential regulation, let alone proposing to the House of Representatives (DPR) that a special inquiry committee be established," Syadzily, who is a Golkar Executive Board chairman, noted in Jakarta on Friday.
People do not need to harbor concerns over the presidential regulation, as the policy is an attempt by the government of President Joko Widodo to organize and restrict foreign nationals from working in Indonesia, Syadzily remarked.
According to Syadzily, foreign workers are not clearly confined under regulations in Indonesia so far.
"Moreover, the presidential regulation is an effort to ensure legal certainty for expatriates working in Indonesia," he stated.
Syadzily, who is also vice chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives, stated the regulation aimed to increase investment in Indonesia. Moreover, expatriates in any part of the world are regulated.
With regard to the alleged domination of employment in Indonesia by expatriates from a certain country, he noted that the regulation dealt with foreign workers from all countries and not from a certain country.
In the meantime, State Secretary Pratikno clarified that Presidential Regulation No. 20 of 2018 on foreign workers aimed at simplifying the procedures for applications, rather than assisting in bringing workers to the country.
"This is merely the simplification of the (application) process and not for facilitating foreign workers to come to Indonesia. Those are two different things," Pratikno noted at the Bogor Palace.
He explained that the regulation will not reduce the requirements for foreign workers but would only simplify the permit process.
"This cuts short the process. If they (foreign workers) fail to meet the requirement, they cannot work here. The requirements would not be reduced, but the process will be simplified," he elaborated.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower Herry Sudarmanto stated that the presidential regulation is in fact a form of legal certainty for expatriates.
"This regulation offers legal clarity on the part of the foreign workers. So far, expatriates can change their business visa to work visa, so they can work, but now, they can only work after obtaining a work visa from the start. They can no longer use a business visa," the secretary general informed Antara in Jakarta on Tuesday (Apr 17).
He explained that requirements to obtain a work visa have also been made clear. Employers must be legal entities. Prospective foreign workers must hold a diploma, with an educational background that is in accordance with the positions to be filled in Indonesian companies.
In addition, expatriate candidates must also hold a competence certificate. Employer companies are required to provide Indonesian language training facilities. Under the policy, the government is keen to reinforce its legal certainty for prospective workers, employers, and government as supervisors.***4***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 21-04-2018 12:52 |
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