Many Indonesian Crew Members Abroad Do Not Report Themselves

Cargo Ship Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) revealed that most Indonesians who work as fisheries crew (ABK) abroad are not registered. This is due to their departure without going through any established procedures.

"So, they are not registered at the relevant ministry agencies in Indonesia," said the Director for Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha in a press conference which was held online, Wednesday, June 3.

He said this happened because of their lack of understanding of the reporting procedures to Indonesian representatives abroad. This makes them not report themselves so they are not recorded.

"They do not get a proper understanding of how to work abroad. That is a challenge for all of us," he said.

Judha then explained, based on data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to date, the number of Indonesians working abroad has reached 2.9 million. Of these, 9,404 people became migrant workers as ship crews.

Most of them work on fishing and commercial vessels, mostly in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

It's just that, he stressed, this figure does not include workers who did not register themselves with the Indonesian representative. Given, the data only records those who routinely report during the sign in and sign out process.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs talked about the elimination of Indonesian crew members

Through the press conference, Judha also explained about the existence of crew members from Indonesia who were roped around Somali waters. According to him, the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing had sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding this matter.

After the memorandum was sent, continued Judha, the Chinese authorities have now conducted an investigation regarding the news.

He explained that the diplomatic note had been sent since 19 May. The note was sent after the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing received news that a crew from Indonesia on board Lu Qing Yuan Yu 623 had died and was drifting in Somali waters.

"We received information that the investigation process is currently being carried out by the PRC authorities," said Judha.

It is known, some time ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has explained the chronology of the launch of the Indonesian crew members in Somali waters.

This case surfaced after a video showing the event containing the body of a crew member named Herdianto circulated on social media. Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with related ministries and institutions conducted a search.

It is suspected that the crew members were victims of slavery and abuse on a Chinese-flagged ship named Lu Qing Yuan Yu 623. This ban occurred around last January.