Labour migration
Strengthening the protection of Indonesian migrant workers with gender responsiveness fair recruitment and responsible business conduct
The ILO and its partners promote gender responsiveness fair recruitment and responsible business conduct as effective ways to strengthen the protection of Indonesian migrant workers from exploitation.
12 November 2024
JAKARTA, Indonesia (ILO News) - More than 65 representatives of governments, workers, employers and private placement agencies exchange their knowledge and experiences during the Tripartite Plus Technical Workshop aimed to improve the recruitment process and protection of Indonesian migrant workers. Held in Jakarta on 7 November, the workshop was jointly held by the ILO in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Protection of Indonesia Migrant Workers/BP2MI, the Migrant Worker Network (JBM) and the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo).
The workshop was part of the joint effort to promote the implementation of gender responsiveness fair recruitment, responsible business conduct and code of conduct for private placement agencies in Indonesia to better protect Indonesia migrant workers. The workshop was also conducted as a response to the widespread of exploitation and ill-treatment of migrant workers in connection with the operation of private recruitment agencies.
The workshop was also a follow-up to the 2021 Gender Guideline on Provision of Services and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, jointly developed by the Ministry of Manpower, Migrant Worker Network and ILO. As part of this Guideline, a Code of Conduct Private Placement Agency was developed adopting the ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and Definition of Recruitment Fees and Related Costs.
The workshop, thus, plays an important role in facilitating a productive dialogue among relevant stakeholders to develop a joint recommendation to reduce the gap between policies and practices.
Sinthia Harkrisnowo, Project Coordinator of the ILO’s Labour Migration Project in Indonesia
Sinthia Harkrisnowo, Project Coordinator of the ILO’s Labour Migration Project in Indonesia, stated that the latest study conducted by the trade unions has shown that Indonesian migrant workers continue to pay exorbitant fees and costs for overseas placement despite the existing government regulation on zero-cost. In addition, there is still no standardization of employment contract and Indonesian migrant workers find the contract difficult to understand in terms of employment contract and financial loan.
“The workshop, thus, plays an important role in facilitating a productive dialogue among relevant stakeholders to develop a joint recommendation to reduce the gap between policies and practices. Better understanding about the principles of fair recruitment and responsible business conduct is expected to enhance government regulations and strategies on the protection of Indonesia migrant workers,” she stated.
During the workshop, the participating stakeholders discussed how responsible business conduct and code of conduct on fair, gender responsiveness recruitment improve the competitiveness of private placement agencies and strengthen the efforts of the government to eliminate recruitment fees. In addition, the participants examined the existing government regulations and ways to strengthen the prevention of fraudulent practices as well as the enhancement of the inspection, registration, licensing and monitoring of private placement agencies to ensure the protection of labour rights of Indonesian migrant workers.
The workshop was concluded with the development of a Joint Action Plan between Apindo and the Private Placement Association. The action plan highly promotes fair and gender responsiveness recruitment, due diligence fair recruitment tools, code of conduct and responsible business conduct. The action plan is also in line with the effort to be more compliant to the international standards that no recruitment fees or related costs should be borne by workers or jobseekers.
The support of the ILO is provided by the PROTECT Indonesia aimed to strengthen the rights of women migrant workers, children and at-risk groups in the country. PROTECT is a new initiative of the ILO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Indonesia, funded by the European Union (EU).