Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers after Moratorium Policy on Consignment of Migrant Workers and its Impact to Indonesia Saudi Arabia Relations

Abstract

Indonesian government implement the moratorium on consignment of its migrant workers to Saudi Arabia after a migrant worker whose name is Ruyati was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia in 2011. The moratorium is expected to ensure the safety of migrant workers. However, it has further impacted on migrant workers and becomes an issue of Indonesia - Saudi Arabia relations. We investigate the efforts of protecting Indonesian migrant workers from the Indonesian diplomatic representatives and its impacts on Indonesian relations with these countries. We conduct interviews with the representatives of the Indonesian Government and Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. The findings are analysed with human security perspective, responsibility to protect (R2P) in the context of international migration. We argue that protection efforts based on human security to those migrant workers could leverage the position of Indonesia in its relations with Saudi Arabia. The problem of Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is a complex issue, therefore we suggest further research to highlight the issue from the perspectives of the workers and cultural differences between those two nations.

The Social Construction of Family Roles in Migrant Worker Income Management to Build Family Economy

“…The Research Center for Development and Information of BNP2TKI (2020) noted that, for three consecutive years, from 2016 to 2018, the placement of Indonesian migrant workers increased every year. From 234,451 in 2016From 234,451 in , 262,899 in 2017From 234,451 in , to 283,640 in 2018 The policy of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) abroad is one of the government's efforts to reduce unemployment and poverty rates in Indonesia (Primawati, 2011;Madrah et al, 2020;Wijaya et al, 2020;Kadir, 2019;Lasim et al, 2021). The consideration of becoming migrant workers is taken due to inadequate employment opportunities in the country of origin, family's economic pressure, and dreams of having valuables such as motorbikes, cars, rice fields, and good houses, among others.…”