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This submission is being made on behalf of Anti-Slavery International,
the Indonesian Migrant Workers' Union and the Asian Migrant Centre.
Since the early 1980s, poverty, high unemployment and lack of educational
opportunities have been driving Indonesian migrants abroad in search
of work, and by the late 1990s, they were among the fastest-growing
migrant population in Asia. By mid-2001, over 70 per cent of Indonesian
migrants were women, and 43 per cent worked in the informal employment
sector as domestic workers, factory workers or construction workers.
1 Most of these workers, considered low-status
or "unskilled," must endure highly-exploitative or abusive
treatment, and many work in conditions which meet the International
Labour Organization's (ILO) definition of forced labour as set out
in Convention No.29.
Most Indonesians wishing to work abroad as low-status workers are
officially required to go through over 400 government-sanctioned
recruitment agencies, which seek to profit from the migrant trade.
The Indonesian Government's requirement for migrants to use the
agency system, and its failure to provide adequate rights and legal
protection makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, abuse
and forced labour. 2
The agencies require prospective migrant workers to live in training
camps for one to 14 months, where they are often forced to work
for the agency staff as well as carry out other tasks such as cleaning,
shopping and cooking. Though the Indonesian labour department has
set minimal standards to regulate certain practices within these
camps, these are rarely enforced. Restrictions are placed on migrants'
freedom of movement, and conditions in the camps are poor, often
leading to health problems for which there is little medical care.
According to research conducted by the Centre for Indonesian Migrant
Workers (CIMW) on conditions inside 100 such training camps, 68
per cent of girls/women interviewed were not provided with mattresses
to sleep on; 62 per cent stated they received insufficient food;
and nine per cent received no food at all. Though many training
camps provided one toilet per 50 women, one training camp had 200
persons sharing a single toilet. Physical and sexual abuse were
reported among 17 per cent of interviewees. 3
The research also found that almost all workers interviewed had
signed a contract in a foreign language (without translation) and
were prevented from reading the contract. Forty one per cent had
been forced by agents to use false ages and addresses and three
per cent had provided false names. Seventy eight per cent of women
interviewed had paid illegal fees to brokers of 100,000 rupiah (US$12)
to seven million rupiah (US$855). Despite enduring such risks and
violations, there is no guarantee that all migrants would actually
end up with a legitimate job abroad.
Adek's experience exemplifies what many migrant domestics have to
go through at the hands of Indonesian recruitment agencies. Adek
had contacted a broker in her hometown to help her go to Hong Kong,
because she had heard from a relative that she could get a better
job there and earn more money. The broker had taken her to an employment
agency in Surabaya, East Java, where she had to pay Rp390,000 (US$44)
for a medical test, a uniform, and Cantonese language books and
cookery books.
Adek was sent to a training camp in Surabaya. There were around
1,000 women in this camp, many women in the camp came down with
illnesses due to inadequate food and unsanitary water. One woman
died through lack of medical care. Adek and the other women were
forced to carry out tasks for the agency staff, cleaning duties,
and undertake long hours of language tuition. During her four months
in the camp, Adek was not allowed to leave, and her family was only
allowed a few hours to visit her every two weeks. There were no
telephones for Adek to contact her family, and letters were censored
or taken away. Adek signed contract papers without these being explained
to her.
Agencies generate huge profits as migrants' exploitation continues
after departing to host countries, where they are in a situation
of debt bondage and forced labour for the first one to 14 months.
Migrants must pay off agency fees, which are usually extortionate,
even though a legal maximum for such fees is set by the Indonesian
Government. Migrants going to the Gulf must pay official fees of
Rp400,000 (US$49) with a two to three months salary deduction; those
going to Taiwan must pay Rp24 million (US$2,930) with a 13 month
salary deduction; and those going to Hong Kong must pay Rp17,845,000
(US$2,179). However, more than 50 per cent of migrants in Hong Kong
pay excessive placement fees of up to HK$21,000 (US$2,699) with
a four to seven month salary deduction. 4
Migrants must also pay excessive agency fees in order to renew
their employment contract. According to a survey conducted in Hong
Kong, 89 per cent of respondents were charged fees higher than the
legal maximum of HK$367 (US$47) set by the Hong Kong Government.
The average fee paid by respondents was HK$5,655 (US$727), and five
per cent of respondents had even paid HK$10,000 (US$1,285). 5
Hence, even if Indonesian migrants are mistreated and forced to
work long hours under harsh conditions, they cannot leave because
of the contract they have signed and the money "owed"
to agencies. According to baseline research, 48 per cent of Indonesian
migrant workers are paid below the legal minimum wage, 90 per cent
do not receive their weekly rest days, and 24 per cent have undergone
physical abuse. 6
In Adek's case, she was taken to Hong Kong where she worked for
five months without pay as this money went to repay the agency fees
she "owed". Adek also faced routine verbal abuse, was
not allowed to leave the apartment and had only one rest day in
nine months of employment. 7
Migrants continue to be exploited and discriminated against even
as they return home. All returning migrants must return through
the specially-designated Terminal three of Soekarno Hatta International
Airport, where there have been reports of migrants experiencing
rape and physical abuse and having to pay bribes in order to obtain
basic information and services. Migrants are also required to be
met upon arrival by their family members. If not, they must return
home by transportation offered by agencies, which again involves
paying fees 10 times higher than public transportation.
As has been outlined above, the activities of these agencies, involving
the recruitment, training, transportation and return of migrants,
often leads to them being subjected to forced labour or highly exploitative
and abusive employment practices, in contravention of ILO Convention
29 on forced labour and the UN Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Many agencies who use coercion and deception for the purposes of
exploitation to transport migrants abroad are traffickers, and hence
they must be prosecuted according to principles as defined in the
UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children (2000). There is currently no
comprehensive law against trafficking in Indonesia and no specific
national legislation for the protection of migrant workers.
Article 66 of the Indonesian Government's Ministerial Decree No.104A/2002
has only served to worsen the situation by requiring low-status
migrant workers to return to Indonesia to renew their contracts.
This means they have to leave their jobs for two weeks and pay for
their airfare and agency fees again rather than having their contract
validated by the Indonesian Consulate in the host country.
In view of the above we urge the Indonesian Government to:
- Conduct a strategic review on the role of agencies in the recruitment
process and their impact on migrant worker's rights; prosecute
abusive agencies and traffickers; and make the necessary regulatory
and policy changes to ensure the full protection of migrant workers
in the deployment process. If necessary, adopt the recommendation
of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union to bring an end to the
role of recruitment agencies and create new regulations for deployment
consistent with international human rights standards.
- Ratify the United Nations Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families (1990)
and introduce comprehensive national legislation to protect all
migrant workers in line with this Convention and other appropriate
international human rights standards. This legislation should
ensure:
(a) The repeal of the decree for migrant workers to return to
Indonesia to renew their contracts.
(b) The creation of a National Commission on Migrant Workers'
Rights with representation from migrant workers' organisations
and NGOs, and with specific responsibility for protecting migrants
during the whole of the migration process, including recruitment,
monitoring rights violations and abuses, and facilitating migrants'
redress actions and reintegration.
(c) The funding and implementation of a compulsory programme of
information and public education in conjunction with migrant workers'
organisations and NGOs for prospective and returning migrant workers
and their families. This programme should be based on international
human rights standards and include information on the realities
of labour migration, migration processes and procedures, migrant
workers rights, policies and laws in Indonesia and host countries,
how to obtain assistance abroad and how to access economic alternatives
to migration upon return.
- Ratify the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
(2000) and introduce domestic legislation to prohibit trafficking
in all its forms and to provide support and protection to trafficked
persons in line with articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Protocol.
1 Indonesia Country Report, Asian Migrant Yearbook
2000, The Asian Migrant Centre (AMC), November 2001, Hong Kong
SAR.
2 Recommendations to the Indonesian Government for Improving
Policy on Indonesian Migrant Workers, Indonesian Migrant Workers
Union, 16 August 2002, Jakarta, Indonesia.
3 Training Camps for Potential Indonesian Migrant Women Workers:
Study on the Conditions Inside Training Camps for Indonesian Migrant
Workers in Jakarta, Centre for Indonesian Migrant Workers, September
1999, Jakarta, Indonesia.
4 Indonesia Country Report, Asian Migrant Yearbook 2001(AMY 2001),
The Asian Migrant Centre (AMC), April 2002, Hong Kong SAR; &
AMY 2000.
5 Campaign for Fair Treatment of Indonesian Domestic Helpers
in Hong Kong by Agencies Approved by the Hong Kong Labour Department,
Asian Migrant Centre, Amal Indonesia Direct & Coalition for
Indonesian Migrant Workers Associations (KOTKIHO), 30 March 2001,
Hong Kong SAR.
6 Baseline Research on Racial Discrimination Against Foreign
Domestic Helpers, Asian Migrant Centre & Coalition for Migrants
Rights, February 2002, Hong Kong SAR.
7 It should be noted that, according to the research carried out
by Asian Migrant Centre & Coalition for Migrants Rights, the
majority of Indonesian migrants in Hong Kong receive two rest days
per month.
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