INDONESIA TO ENSURE ONLY DOCUMENTED WORKERS ARE SENT ABROAD

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- The Indonesian government is taking steps to
ensure only documented workers are sent abroad, an official said.

The steps included easing the issuance of permits and documents for the
workers, Foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

Employment agents were also reminded to take care of the workers' welfare
and not exploit them, he added.

"We choose to improve the system from within to prevent illegal workers from
going abroad. All those who intend to work overseas must be properly
documented," he said.

On the move by the Malaysian government to carry out a regularisation
programme for Indonesian workers last year, Teuku Faizasyah said the move
benefited both sides.

He said Malaysia was able to ensure the workers were documented while
Indonesia had the opportunities to issue documents to the workers.

The improvement to the way the government handles its foreign workers'
deployment was among the agenda of Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar
during the first 100 days of administration under the cabinet of President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The administration's 100th day expired yesterday.

Statistics showed that there were 750,000 Indonesians working abroad in 2008
of whom 258,000 were working in Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA