Government mulls special passport for Indonesian migrant workers

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Abdul Kadir Karding stated that his side and the Ministry of Immigration and Penitentiary Affairs plan to develop a special passport for Indonesian migrant workers.

"Indonesian migrant workers will be reserved special passports with special codes in the future," Karding stated after meeting Minister of Immigration and Penitentiary Affairs Agus Andrianto here on Wednesday (November 20).

He remarked that special passports for migrant workers will ensure that only authorized migrant workers can work overseas and strengthen the protection of Indonesian migrants.

The plan is also expected to help reduce the number of illegal migrant workers who are more prone to becoming victims of exploitation and human trafficking.

"We have reached agreements (during the meeting), and our follow-up actions will be to sign memoranda of understanding on those agreed," the minister noted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Christina Aryani said the special passport will allow the authority to monitor the movement of Indonesian migrant workers.

"As we know how they come and go, we can better protect them. It will also prevent non-procedural departures of migrant workers," she remarked.

The deputy minister revealed that Indonesian migrant workers will also be required to have sufficient balance in their bank accounts for up to three months before their departure.

She elaborated that the bank balance requirement aims to prevent migrant workers from becoming victims of human trafficking.

Apart from developing new passports and setting up the bank balance requirement, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Ministry will seek to integrate the migrant workers' movement data from the immigration authority into the ministry's integrated protection system.