Transforming the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI)

Abstract

The high interest of the Indonesian people to become migrant-workers has resulted in an increase in the number of workers leaving for overseas in recent years. Although becoming a migrant-worker often provides significant economic benefits for individuals, families and national economic growth, the safety and protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers is still a serious challenge that must be addressed immediately. This is shown by the end of November 2024, there were 1358cases of complaints received by BP2MI, which were dominated from non-procedural migrant workers. One of the progressive steps taken by the current government is to establish a ministry for the protection of Indonesian migrant workers in October 2024. This article is included in the type of literature study research using a normative-juridical approach. The results show that the establishment of the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers through Presidential Regulation No. 165 of 2024 is a form of the state's seriousness in efforts to protect migrant-workers who focus on the quality of protection and maximize placement to improve the welfare of migrant-workers.  In terms of placement, to ensure the safety and guarantee of the placement system, there are five placement schemes that have been provided. Meanwhile, in terms of the protection of migrant workers, referring to Article 7 of Law No. 18/2017 on the Protection of Migrant Workers includes three important stages, namely: protection before, during, and after working abroad. In addition to the three stages regulated in the law, other strategic efforts are needed to create a better work ecosystem. Some of the efforts that can be made include hastening the ownership of the Memorandum of Understanding, strengthening the capacity of human-resources, expanding opportunities and job markets in the country and resolving issues that affect law enforcement in Indonesia, especially related to corruption, collusion and nepotism behavior.