BLITAR, EAST JAVA (Joint Press Release ) - The Ministry of Manpower, together with the Blitar District Government, the joint ILO-UN Women’s Safe and Fair Programme, the European Union, the Confederation of All Indonesian Labour Unions (KSBSI) and the Indonesian Women Coalition of the East Java Region, will launch the Gender-Responsive Information Center and One-Roof Integrated Services (Migrant Worker Resource Center /MRC) of Blitar District, East Java, on Monday, 25 July 2022. The launching will be conducted by the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah and the Regent of Blitar Rini Syarifah

The integration of the MRC with the Government One-Roof Integrated Services (LTSA) for the Gender-Responsive Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers is the first pilot model in Indonesia in the form of multi-party cooperation between the government, trade unions and NGOs (women crisis center) in building integrated and coordinated services in accordance with the mandate of Law on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers No. 18/2017 which aims to improve the protection of women migrant workers and their families at every stage of migration, from their hometown to returning.

The MRC is supported by the ILO through the Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) program, which is a joint program by the ILO and UN Women in collaboration with UNODC. Safe and Fair programme is part of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. With the support of the European Union, the Safe and Fair Programme aims to ensure safe and fair migration for all women in ASEAN, including Indonesia.

Ida Fauziyah, the Minister of Manpower, said that this pilot programme is the government’s commitment to optimizing the function of LTSA in accordance with the mandate of Article 38 of Law No. 18/2017 and Article 31 of Government Regulation No. 59 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers. The presence of non-administrative services that are gender-responsive and focused on the protection function is expected to better protect migrant workers and prospective migrant workers and their families in Blitar District.

Rini Syarifah, the Regent of Blitar (Bupati), emphasized that the integration of a gender-responsive MRC-LTSA is expected to provide comprehensive and gender-responsive protection services for Indonesian migrant workers, strengthening the capacity of village officials to improve the governance of migrant villages, providing pre-employment consultations, psycho-social counselling services, case handling, legal aid services, training of prospective migrant workers and provision of authoritative information.

“Blitar District is proud to be part of a pilot program that integrates two institutions into one roof-one stop services and becomes a collaborative synergy between the government, trade unions and women’s organizations. This will further strengthen the protection for Indonesian migrant workers who play a major role in regional and national development,” said Bupati Rini.

Deepa Bharathi, Chief Technical Advisor of the Safe and Fair programme said “ Gender responsive MRCs-LTSAs will ensure information and services provided to Indonesian women migrant workers are relevant and respond to their needs. The ILO is happy to be part of the development of MOUs/Joint Commitment and establishment of the MRCs in Indonesia, today in Blitar. We call upon all relevant stakeholders to work together for greater protection of rights of women and men Indonesian migrant workers in Indonesia and abroad.” said Deepa.

H.E. Vincent Piket, the Ambassador of the European Union said that "the contribution of women migrant workers to the economy and to society requires that their safety and rights are protected. Protecting migrant workers’ rights during pre-departure, departure, transit, working period and returning is crucial. It needs collaboration by all stakeholders. The European Union is therefore happy to have contributed to such a multi-stakeholder partnership in the set-up of the Migrant Workers Resource Centres in Blitar and other districts in Indonesia.”

The President of the KSBSI Confederation who is also the chairperson of Labour 20 (L20) of the G20 Indonesia, Elly R. Silaban, welcomed this cooperation and collaboration. She emphasized that the engagement of the village governments and the increase of the villages’ role is a policy that can break the chain of trafficking in persons and overcome other cases. “In addition to protection in destination countries, we have also collaborated with different trade unions in destination countries to protect and advocate for the rights of migrant workers,” said Elly.

Blitar District is one of areas with relatively high prevalence of migrant workers. Data from the Manpower and Transmigration Office of Blitar District shows that this district ranks second in East Java. In general, they are working in Taiwan, Hongkong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Poland, Sri Lanka, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UK, dan Rumania.

For further information please contact:

Sinthia Harkrisnow
Project Coordinator of the ILO's Safe and Fair Program
Email: sinthia@ilo.org