INDONESIA RAMPS UP EFFORT TO PROTECT MIGRANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002641 SIPDIS SIPDIS EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, G/TIP, DRL/PHD, DRL/IL E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2007 TAGS: PGOV PREL ELAB KWMN PHUM ID MY SUBJECT: INDONESIA RAMPS UP EFFORT TO PROTECT MIGRANT WORKERS REF: A) JAKARTA 2627 B) JAKARTA 1130 C) SURABAYA 34 D) JAKARTA 2007 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Kuala Lumpur. Summary =-=-=-= ¶2. (C) Heightened concern over the trafficking of Indonesian workers abroad has sparked the GOI to play a newly aggressive role in the protection of victims. The media has spotlighted numerous cases of abuse of workers abroad (ref A),and Parliament and watchdogs are scrutinizing protection efforts. On the downside, two government labor bodies responsible for protecting migrant workers continue to be generally unresponsive. As long as an effective protection regime is not in place, the concerted national agenda of exporting Indonesian laborers abroad will overwhelm and undermine current anti-trafficking efforts. End Summary. A New Hard-line =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ¶3. (SBU) Indonesia has been increasingly aggressive in protecting the rights of its migrant workers since President Yudhoyono signed a tough new anti-trafficking law in April 2007 (ref B). Yudhoyono set the new proactive tone when he visited Malaysia in June, meeting with Indonesian migrant workers, and then ordering the Indonesian Embassy to fly a planeload of trafficking victims back to Indonesia at GOI expense, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since that time, the GOI has paid for about half the cost of repatriating victims by air, IOM told Labatt. (Note: Previously, IOM paid for the entire cost. The IOM rehabilitation and recovery program is entirely USG funded.) ¶4. (SBU) Minister of Manpower Erman Suparno has also played a more visible role of late. He visited Kuala Lumpur in recently to meet with Indonesian migrant workers and again in early September to reopen talks on a controversial MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia regarding recruitment and placement of Indonesian domestic workers. Suparno told the media that he has revoked the licenses of 107 labor supply companies and dismissed seven staff for corruption. Nevertheless, NGOs told Labatt that they still regard the Manpower Ministry as basically apathetic and prone to corruption. Police Step it Up =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ¶5. (C) Police also have stepped up operations against traffickers since the anti-trafficking law passed, according to the head of the Indonesian National Police (INP) anti-trafficking unit, Anton Charlyan. He told Labatt that "Operation Flower" has resulted in breaking up trafficking networks through arrests of both Indonesians and foreign traffickers, shutting down illicit labor supply companies, and arresting immigration and other officials complicit in trafficking. The operation is applying the new anti-trafficking law for many of the arrests (ref C). The operation also has targeted international trafficking rings using Indonesia as a transit point, he asserted, and the INP is carrying out undercover sting operations against senior corrupt officials (See septel). (Note: The police involved in these operations have all received USG training on trafficking investigations.) ¶6. (C) Still, in an effort to ensure a constant flow of income for migrant laborers and to alleviate unemployment, Indonesia has found itself in a difficult position. One major impediment to better protection of Indonesian workers is the 2006 MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia on Indonesian domestic workers. The MOU essentially ceded many Indonesian workers' rights to Malaysian employers. Among the clauses in the MOU is the right of Malaysian employers to hold the passports of their Indonesian domestic employees. (ref D). At the GOI's request, the two governments met again in Surabaya in June to discuss the current MOU and other issues. Head of the Malaysian delegation, Home Affairs Secretary General Aseh Che Mat, took a hard stance, refusing to talk about renegotiating the section of the MOU regarding passports. Teguh Wardoyo, the Foreign Ministry's Director for JAKARTA 00002641 002 OF 002 Protection of Overseas Workers Abroad, told Labatt. "The results with Malaysia were disappointing and discouraging," he said. Meanwhile, the lead negotiator for the Indonesians, I Gusti Made Arka, Manpower Ministry's Director General Overseas Employment Services, was passive during the talks, according to an NGO activist at the meeting. Taking a Stand =-=-=-=-=-=-=- ¶7. (C) Teguh, former Consul General in Washington, has been active in protecting migrant workers since taking his post several months ago -- "I am alone, working against the mainstream," he told Labatt, talking openly about the corruption and complacency he believes is pervasive among both Indonesian and Malaysian officials. He claims that senior Malaysian officials and elites have a vested interest in the current system because they benefit from the Malaysian employment agencies that import workers. (Note: On the other hand, Teguh was not helpful when, following Labatt's meeting with him, he misrepresented to the media the circumstances of Indonesian workers in Iraq.) ¶8. (C) The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesia Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI),which once showed promise, has largely neglected the protection part of its mandate due to understaffing and emphasis on exporting more labor. During a recent meeting with Labatt, the agency's head Jumhur Hidayat complained about police raids on employment agencies, saying workers under age 21 and as young as age 15 should be allowed to work abroad legally, and that falsification of documents is justified to allow younger workers to go overseas. He said there is nothing more he can do to prompt action on the MOU with Malaysia or to advocate on abuse cases, except to stop export of Indonesian workers for several months, a draconian step (but which he almost certainly does not have the political clout to see through). Trumping Protection =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ¶9. (C) Hidayat, like many national and local Indonesian government officials, is primarily focused on exporting more Indonesian workers. BNP2TKI has begun to open up job marts at the local level, working through local governments to recruit workers and place them with labor export agents but otherwise is using the same system that Hidayat had promised to reform. Migrant Care Executive Director Anis Hidayah said BNP2TKI is allowing the expansion of the overall number of labor supply agencies while ignoring requests by Migrant Care to shut down the ones which Migrant Care has documented as disreputable. ¶10. (SBU) The Anti-Corruption Commission announced August 28 that it is investigating bribery by various officials who process documents for workers going overseas. Also, Parliament has called both Hidayat and Made Arka to testify on their apparent lack of action to protect workers abroad. ¶11. (C) The trend in fighting trafficking in Indonesia remains positive, with the new anti-trafficking law already being enforced and police greatly stepping up actions. Appointment of officials such as Teguh at the foreign ministry also is very heartening because he is in position to encourage reform in parts of the government. Actions by NGOs and anti-corruption watchdogs are promoting reform. Nevertheless, efforts to reform agencies with vested financial interests will be difficult to initiate. Despite the reform-minded policies of the Yudhoyono administration, the concerted national agenda of exporting more and more Indonesian laborers continues to perpetuate abuse and undermine the nation's overall anti-trafficking program, as long as an effective protection regime is not yet in place. HUME