Rows Of Riskscaming Illegal PMIs, BP2MI Calls The Most Victims Experienced By Women

Foreign Minister Retno met some PMI victims of confinement in Cambodia at the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh on August 1. (Twitter @Kemlu_RI)

JAKARTA - Head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) Benny Rhamdani revealed a number of risks to haunt Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) if they choose to be placed illegally.

"The risk experienced is definitely physical violence, sexual violence, unpaid salaries because they have never been bound by a work agreement," said Head of BP2MI Benny at the BP2MI Office, Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, October 5.

Illegal PMIs are also prone to being victims of criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO), experiencing exploitation of working time, and unilateral termination of employment due to the absence of a signing of a work agreement that has legal force.

In addition, many illegal PMIs cannot return to their villages back in Indonesia because the documents are withheld by the employers and the distribution parties so that workers cannot escape.

Based on data from 2020-13 September 2022, BP2MI has handled 79,153 Indonesian workers (TKI), 3,306 people have been discharged due to illness and repatriation of 1,421 bodies of workers from Indonesia.

According to the data, about 90 percent were victims of PMI placements that did not comply with the procedure and 80 percent of the victims were women.

This contradicts the official departure of PMI, said Benny. The workers received guarantees of state protection and ease of financing facilities.

"On the other hand, the official placement is a definite placement, we are sure, will get the respect of the state," said Benny.