22 December 2006
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge
Bustamante, issued the following statement today:
The
Special Rapporteur expresses his warm thanks to the Government of
Indonesia for their assistance and cooperation during his ten day visit to
Indonesia from 12 to 21 December 2006.
While in the country, the Special
Rapporteur traveled to the border areas in Tanjung Pinang and Enitkong
where he witnessed first hand the return and insertion programme for
migrants, mainly deportees from abroad.
He also had the opportunity to visit departure centers where
migrant workers are provided with initial training to adapt to the
conditions in the countries of destination.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact
that the Indonesian Government has demonstrated significant political will
and has taken important steps to address the needs of and problems faced
by migrants in general.
Vulnerability of Female Migrants
Workers Increasingly
Indonesian migrants are women, recruited abroad
often for domestic work, do not enjoy adequate legal protection and have
limited access to social services. When meeting with women domestic
workers who had returned to Indonesia, the Special Rapporteur heard about
a wide range of human rights abuses in the workplace in their countries of
destination, including extremely long hours of work without overtime pay,
no rest days, incomplete and irregular payment of wages, psychological,
physical, and sexual abuse.
The Special Rapporteur encourages
Indonesia: - to follow up on the treatment of
women migrant workers by labor agencies, requiring careful oversight of
the work of such agencies, and enforcement mechanisms that include
imposition of penalties on agents who abuse workers, - to monitor recruitment agencies, labor suppliers and places
of employment to deter an environment where domestic workers are exploited
with impunity, - to ensure that domestic law
and its implementation comply with its international obligations to
protect the rights of women as defined in the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to which
Indonesia is a party to.
Labor Agreements
The Special Rapporteur notes
that competition and unethical practices among profit-seeking labor
suppliers and recruiters create an environment that compromises migrant
workers rights and place them in a situation of great vulnerability. It
also undermines the effectiveness of the existing regulations. The Special
Rapporteur calls on the Indonesian Government as well as NGOs and other
social actors such as the media, employers, police and immigration
officials to remain vigilant and spare no efforts in protecting the rights
of migrants living in Indonesia and the rights of Indonesians migrant
workers abroad.
Referring to the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between Governments of the Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia signed on May 13, 2006, the Special Rapporteur regrets that
representatives of civil society, including NGOs were not involved in the
process leading to its finalization. The Special Rapporteur also regrets
that the provisions contained in the MoU addresses the interests of
employers and recruitment agencies without equal consideration for the
human rights of the migrants themselves. For instance, recruitment
agencies fees are very high, often up to six months of workers salaries,
spawning a usurious money-lending industry that remains ignored.
The Special
Rapporteur calls upon Indonesian authorities to ensure an end to illegal
recruitment processes and to bring those responsible to justice. He also
stresses the urgent need for a more rigorous regulation of the activities
of recruitment agencies, particularly as regards the treatment of female
domestic workers abroad.
The Special Rapporteur recalls that the government of Indonesia
bears some responsibility towards its nationals living and working abroad,
particularly when their rights are abused.
Ratification of the 1990
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of their Families
Finally the Special Rapporteur
is encouraged by news that the National Legislature in Indonesia has
agreed to discuss the signature of the 1990 International Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families in early 2008. While welcoming this positive development, the
Special Rapporteur stresses the need for awareness raising measures among
NGOs, the public at large for a thorough understanding of the content of
the Convention and encourages the Government of Indonesia to ratify it.
The
Special Rapporteur will provide the Government of Indonesia with
recommendations on these issues in his report to the Human Rights
Council.
Professor Jorge Bustamante was appointed Special
Rapporteur in August 2005. The mandate on the human rights of migrants was
established in 1999 to examine ways and means to overcome the obstacles
existing to the full and effective protection of the human rights of
migrants, including obstacles and difficulties for the return of migrants
who are undocumented or in an irregular
situation. |