Lapor Kerja Sama Dengan Arab Saudi Ke Presiden, Menteri Karding: Kita Ketahui Sedang Moratorium

Minister of P2MI Abdul Kadir Karding (left) witnessed by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan. (ANTARA PHOTO-Fauzan)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Minister (P2MI) Abdul Kadir Karding met with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Friday, March 14.

Minister Karding reported directly to the President regarding the establishment of a Coordinating Decree for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and the Crime of Trafficking in Persons to a moratorium on sending Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia.

"Today, the President's report is related to Indonesian migrant workers. One is about the formation of a Migrant Workers Protection Dec. The second is about plans to open cooperation with Saudi Arabia, which we know is that there is a moratorium process," said Karding, quoted by Antara.

Karding explained that the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Menko Polkam) Budi Gunawan had appointed the Ministry of Protection for Indonesian Migrant Workers (KemenP2MI) to lead the Coordinating Decree for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and the Crime of Trafficking in Persons.

The target of establishing the desk, said Karding, is to provide PMI protection by improving protection governance.

In addition, the Ministry of P2MI is also trying to minimize the occurrence of violence, including criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO) or human trafficking abroad.

According to Karding, protection efforts for PMI can be done by carrying out procedural and legal PMI departures and placements.

"The most important thing is that he must be procedural, that's because 95 percent (PMI) is unprocedural. Second, skills must be improved because we have migrant workers, which is 80 percent domestic," said Karding.

He mentioned a number of efforts to make PMI departures procedural by improving Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning PMI Protection.

In addition, services must be improved and take firm action against brokers and human trafficking syndicates.

"The four massive socializations are so that people understand how to work procedurally, then the key to the bilateral agreement, it is important if we lock down that protection is good, that's key and ensure that the country does not accept illegal workers," said Karding.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government is also still reviewing the revocation of the moratorium on sending PMIs to Saudi Arabia so that cooperation can resume.

"Later, we will wait for the moratorium if it can be opened sooner, better," he said.