Jokowi wants to stop sending Indonesian maids abroad
JAKARTA — Indonesia President Joko Widodo is planning to prevent any more Indonesians from traveling abroad to make a living as domestic workers, asking the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to draw up a roadmap for the plan.
Foreign domestic helpers at a maid agency. TODAY file photo
JAKARTA — Indonesia President Joko Widodo is planning to prevent any more Indonesians from travelling abroad to make a living as domestic workers, asking the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to draw up a roadmap for the plan.
Mr Nusron Wahid, the head Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), has said that his agency would support the plan.
“We are ready to follow the president’s order,” Mr Nurson said yesterday (Feb 16). “As a big nation, we have to protect our dignity.”
Boosting education would be key for would-be maids to gain access to higher-skilled jobs and better protection abroad, Mr Nusron added.
“We should upgrade the quality of vocational and skills training centres,” the BNP2TKI chief said.
There are currently vocational and skills training centers in each province in the country but none are specifically designed to cater to prospective migrant workers.
Indonesian workers, especially women working in people’s homes, often face abuse. A recent example is the case of Ms Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, who was tortured by her boss in Hong Kong. THE JAKARTA GLOBE
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