Indonesia Plans to End Worker's Moratorium on Saudi Arabia

Jakarta (Antara) - The Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) plans to end the temporary foreign worker moratorium on Saudi Arabia by the end of 2014 after an MoU between the two governments. "We have been working to improve the skills of temporary workers before being sent abroad to ensure their competence," BNP2TKI Deputy for Placement of Workers Agusdin Subiantoro stated here on Thursday. According to Subiantoro, an instrument for protecting Indonesians working in the informal sector in other countries was also being drafted to ensure that they were fully protected. The moratorium on placing Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has been in effect since 2011 as a result of an absence of an agreement between the two countries on resolving labor disputes and problems, he pointed out. Due to the absence of such an agreement, labor disputes could not be easily solved, Subiantoro added. The Saudi government views domestic workers as the ones with no legal protection despite the fact that Saudi laws make it mandatory for each worker to adapt to the local laws, he remarked. "That is why we support the presence of a formal law within a work agreement between an employee and employer," Subiantoro noted. (*) Reported by Karel A. Polakitan