Indonesia labor agencies would continue to send workers

Despite a government ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia, some labor placement agencies are continuing to send their workers to the neighboring country, Yunus Yamani, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Labor Exporters, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. "The government has put us in a difficult position. We have thousands of workers ready to be sent to Malaysia, with their passports, visas and even tickets to fly," he said. "I demand the government give us a solution to this issue. We can't just immediately stop the process."

Yunus refused to name the companies that are still sending domestic workers to Malaysia, but Rusdi Basalamah, vice chairman of the Migrant Worker Service Company Association (Apjati), said that up to 100 workers departed for Malaysia on Friday. "Today [Friday] there are 60 to 100 workers flying to Malaysia, and how can you stop them if they have signed working agreements?" he said, adding that he was yet to receive an official letter from the ministry on the ban and therefore could not issue an order to association members to stop sending workers to Malaysia.

Following several reports of abuse, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said on Thursday that the government had decided to suspend sending domestic, plantation and construction workers to Malaysia until the neighboring country agreed to review a memorandum of understanding signed in 2006. Indonesia also demanded that the Malaysian government give Indonesian workers there one day off each week and the right to take leave. Erman told the press that he would issue an official letter to placement agencies and related ministries as a follow-up to his statement.

However, Yunus said that by Friday he had not received any official correspondence from the government. "It was just a statement reported by media," he said. "We did not receive any letter that orders us to stop sending workers." Rusdi said that labor agencies would continue to send workers until the government provided a clear explanation and an official letter on the ban. He also said that many labor agencies were confused as to whether the ban was on recruiting or sending workers to Malaysia. "And what about thousands of workers that have spent months in training? Are they not allowed to go now?" he asked. "They should have a clear definition on this, because otherwise it will just hurt the workers."

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