Commission IX Supports Revocation Of Moratorium On Migrant Workers To Saudi Arabia, Requests Increased Protection

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives Yahya Zaini supports the revocation of the moratorium on sending Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) to Saudi Arabia.

On condition, after the moratorium was lifted, Indonesian migrant workers who were sent were again closely monitored by the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Works (KemenP2MI).

"I strongly support the revocation of the PMI moratorium to Saudi Arabia with a note that strict supervision is needed to ensure that non-procedural PMI shipments do not occur," Yahya Zaini said when contacted, Wednesday, March 19.

"Because there are many unprocedural problems," he continued.

Then, he continued, formal workers must be prioritized. If necessary, he said, starting with the G to G scheme or cooperation between the sender country and the recipient country.

"Even if there are informal or ART workers, they must be under strict conditions," he said.

In addition, Yahya encouraged the government to strengthen the governance of the P to P (Private to Private) scheme to avoid losses suffered by Indonesian migrant workers who were sent to Saudi Arabia.

To note, the P to P scheme is a placement mechanism through the Indonesian Migrant Worker Placement Company (P3MI) with agencies in the destination country.

"Don't let old cases happen again like before," said Yahya.

Yahya added that supervision as a form of protection for Indonesian migrant workers must also highlight the informal sector, one of which is household assistant workers.

"The PMI Ministry must closely monitor the P3MI that sent PMI to Saudi Arabia," concluded Yahya.

Previously, President Prabowo had approved the revocation of the moratorium on Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia. Following up on this, it is planned to sign a cooperation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this month.

Saudi Arabia offers job opportunities for around 600,000 migrant workers. Of that total number, 400,000 of them are in the domestic sector. Meanwhile, another 200,000 '250,000' vacancies come from the formal sector.

It is estimated that IDR 31 trillion foreign exchange will enter if it places 600,000 Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia.