Jokowi Denies The Issue Of 10 Million Chinese Foreign Workers Entering Indonesia In Today's Memory, August 8, 2018

Portrait of Chinese foreign workers working in Indonesia. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA Memories of today, 23 years ago, August 8, 2018, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the issue of 10 million foreign workers from China entering Indonesia reaching 10 million is not true. China's foreign workers who enter Indonesia only reach 23 thousand people. No more.

Previously, the issue of Chinese foreign workers entering Indonesia was increasingly rolling. foreign workers are like replacing Indonesian workers in the field of rough work. Social jealousy also emerged. The government is considered to care more about foreign workers than the nation's own children.

There is nothing wrong with the initiation of the Jokowi government using foreign labor services. The regulation was even present through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 20 of 2018 which was issued on March 26, 2018. The Presidential Regulation which regulates foreign workers is the entry point for foreign workers from China.

The government also tries to provide conditions that foreign workers must have skills and can speak Indonesian. Quota matters related to local workers must be dominant. This condition is because the number of investments in Indonesia is increasing.

The government needs many workers with special skills that not many local workers have. The government also said that the conflict between foreign and local workers was minimal. Especially quota matters. The quota of local workers is left abundant. While the Chinese foreign workers quota is limited, aka relatively small.

Recently, Chinese foreign workers have started to enter Indonesia a lot. The news that develops makes local workers even more furious. The government easily provides foreign workers with entry permits. In fact, it is suspected that China's foreign workers who come cannot speak Indonesian and do not have special skills.

The government is said to have privileged Chinese foreign workers. News of the wind emerged. The number of Chinese foreign workers who have entered Indonesia has reached 10 million people. They are scattered in mining companies. However, the government considers this view baseless. The public is asked not to worry.

"Especially for foreign workers, I ask the public not to worry too much. It's okay to worry, but it shouldn't be too much because it's definitely not good. Because the Presidential Decree only regulates or simplifies the procedures and bureaucracy for licensing foreign workers, but it's not just acquittal."

"Don't get me wrong. So far, the process of obtaining a TKA permit is relatively convoluted, involving many ministries, thus hampering investment. Why is this important. Because we certainly want investment to continue to increase. The number of investments increases, of course, the number of foreign workers will definitely increase. However, the number of foreign workers in Indonesia compared to foreign workers in other countries is still relatively small," said the Minister of Manpower M Hanif Dharmari as quoted by the ANTARA page, April 20, 2018.

The issue of the 10 million Chinese foreign workers reached the vicinity of President Jokowi. He considered the issue too much. Jokowi also denied it directly on August 8, 2018. Jokowi revealed that it was not true if the number of Chinese foreign workers entering Indonesia reached 10 million.

The number of Chinese foreign workers who entered is only about 23,000 people. Even then, workers who come with high skills, not low skills as alleged. Jokowi also admitted that he was surprised why the affairs of presenting foreign workers in Indonesia became a polemic. In fact, Indonesian migrant workers have flooded many neighboring countries and are mediocre.

"He said there are 10 million Chinese workers entering Indonesia. Nothing. There are, approximately 23,000 people. If that's the case, yes. Those, for example, install turbines where we can't put them in. After all, they don't keep working. "

"TKI in China, there are 80,000, they are silent. Not to mention in Malaysia, our illegal migrant workers only have 2 million, they are also silent. Our workforce in Saudi Arabia is 500,000. That's what is legal. There are definitely more illegal ones," said Jokowi as quoted by the COMPASS.com page, August 8, 2018.