Again, The Crew's Letter Of Guarantee Status 'Demonsted' Return To Indonesia, This Time 5 People From The Flagship Ship

Illustration. Evacuation of two crew members of a coal-carrying barge in West Aceh waters in November 2021. (ANTARA/HO-Basarnas Pos Meulaboh)

JAKARTA - As many as five crew members (ABK) from Indonesia were finally able to return to Indonesia. They were caught in Taiwan for almost seven months until finally the government helped so that their fifth rights were fulfilled.

Director General of Manpower Placement and Employment Expansion (Binapenta and PKK) Suhartono explained that the five crew members had the status of letter of guarantee (LG) from the MV Uniprofit ship with the flag of fire.

He said the status made the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) and the Indonesian Trade and Economic Office (KDEI) in Taipei coordinate so that the five crew members could return to Indonesia.

"The Ministry of Manpower continues to coordinate intensely with goodminton in Taipei to be able to negotiate and make efforts so that the LG crew members can be sent home immediately," Suhartono said in his statement, quoted from Antara, Sunday, October 23.

According to him, the repatriation was due to the minimum safety manning rules, so the five Indonesian crew members with LG status could not get off the ship to return to the country before the replacement crew.

This is not the first time this problem. In 2021, Indonesia through the Ministry of Manpower together with relevant ministries and institutions also repatriated 105 crew members with LG status who were constrained by the repatriation from Taiwan with almost the same problem.

The Ministry of Manpower monitors the process of repatriating the five people starting from the pick-up at Kaohsiung Port, followed by Kaohsiung International Airport and arriving at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Banten on Saturday, October 22.

"Alhamdulillah, the whole process can go well. Furthermore, we will hand over it to BP3MI Banten to assist in the repatriation process to the area of origin," Suhartono said.

In a similar statement, the Director of Placement and Protection of PMI Kemnaker Rendra Setiawan, stated that Indonesia does not want similar problems to repeat itself.

Therefore, in the near future Indonesia and Taiwan will sit down together to find solutions so that the problems of LG crew members in Taiwan can be resolved.

His party will also invite the Head of TETO in Jakarta to convey Indonesia's firm stance on resolving protracted problems against Indonesian LG crew members.