Minister Of Manpower Ida Fauziyah Brings Good News! Job Opportunities For 2.139 Migrant Workers To South Korea Will Open After MoEL Is Issued

Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah (right) and South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Park Tae-Sung (ANTARA/HO-Kemnaker)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Manpower (Menaker) Ida Fauziyah continues to seek to reopen the placement of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) to South Korea. This job opportunity was opened following the issuance of a letter from the Minister of Employment and Labor (MoEL) of Ginseng Country in September 2021.

This was stated by the Minister of Manpower Ida when he met the South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Park Tae-Sung, in Jakarta, Thursday, September 30 yesterday.

"Representing the Government of Indonesia, we express our highest appreciation and gratitude to the Korean Government for the good cooperation so far, especially in the field of placement and protection of PMIs by Government to Government through EPS since 2008," said the Minister of Manpower Ida in an official statement released on Friday, received in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, October 1.

The MoEL contains an opportunity to place PMI through the Employment Permit System (EPS) scheme in the manufacturing industry with a quota of 2.139 people.

The effort to relocate PMI to South Korea has actually started in July 2021. On July 26, 2021, the Minister of Manpower has sent a letter to MoEL to be able to consider reopening the placement of PMI. The application takes into account the decrease in the number of positive COVID-19 rates in Indonesia.

However, in the same month, the number of positive cases experienced a sharp increase. Thus, the Korean government re-imposed a selective policy on the arrival of foreigners to Korea.

"In early September we received a letter from MoEL regarding a placement quota of 2.139 people in 2021. Once again thank you to Korea for providing this placement opportunity. This shows that there is demand from the Korean Government and Indonesia also has a supply of PMI to be placed in Korea, said Ida.

She said South Korea was one of the favorite placement destinations for PMIs. PMI placement data shows the number of enthusiasts every year is more than 10.000 PMIs.

In 2019, there were 9.946 PMIs who passed. The following year it fell to 2.422 PMI and again decreased to 2.290 in 2021.

In handling the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Indonesia has also taken preventive measures in the form of procedures for placing PMIs in the era of adapting to new habits, including conducting PCR tests before departure, as well as carrying out COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Minister of Manpower emphasized that the development of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia was very low and Indonesia became the second-best country in Southeast Asia in terms of handling COVID-19. For this reason, the Korean government should be able to allow PMI to return to work in Korea.

"The Indonesian government will continue to work hard to continue to reduce the number of positive rates for COVID-19 in Indonesia," he concluded.