NHRIs join forces to tackle abuse of workers
June 2009: Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission, along with other NHRIs in the region, is stepping up cooperation with regional partners to improve protection for migrant workers from abuse and mistreatment.
Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, has announced plans to step up cooperation with its regional partners following recent reports of the mistreatment of Indonesian workers abroad.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, Hesti Armiwulan, Komnas HAM’s vice chairperson for external affairs, also criticised the Indonesian government’s response to migrant worker abuse.
She said responsibilities such as recruitment and training of workers, sending workers abroad and staving off some of the well-documented problems encountered by workers when they returned home fell to the government.
“We have conducted research on how poorly our government protects Indonesian migrant workers, but have not seen real action. However, we will not stop warning the government,” Hesti said.
A joint research project involving the four national human rights commissions of South East Asia – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines – will examine the issues confronting migrant workers in the region. The results of the study are expected to be released in January next year.
According to Hesti, Komas HAM will provide the results of the joint investigation to the Indonesian government and, after discussing proposed solutions with the national human rights commissions of Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, to ASEAN.
An estimated six million Indonesians work overseas, two million of them in Malaysia alone, including those without legal documentation. Bilateral cooperation on the issue would also be vital, said Hesti.
“The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, for instance, will help us gather data on our migrant workers there,” she said.
Lee Pei Hsi, from the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, said that as one of the destination countries for Indonesian migrant workers, it needed to be more involved in order to give a balanced perspective on key issues.
“We would like to protect the rights of migrants workers, but at the same time we don’t want to chop the rights of employers.”
A government official said 100 to 150 complaints from migrant workers in Malaysia are received each week. Many of them claim to have been abused by their employers or dismissed without severance pay.
Regional cooperation
Across the broader Asia Pacific region, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have agreed to work together to improve the living and working environments of migrants.
The Seoul Guidelines, adopted at an international conference organised by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea late last year, outlined a number of practical steps that NHRIs could take, including:
- initiating an international campaign for the universal ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families
- undertaking joint research projects on causes, processes and consequences of international migration among NHRIs in Asia
- planning coordinated international responses to address issues of common concern action
- developing and strengthening remedies to address human rights violations committed against migrants, specially undocumented and irregular migrants
- conducting human rights training programs for government officers, in particular, law enforcement agencies such as immigration, police and detention facilities
- providing education and training program for migrants pre-departure in their country of origin and post-arrival in their country of destination.
The Asia Pacific Forum was nominated as a principal partner to support NHRIs implement the Seoul Guidelines. It was also requested to work with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to organise a follow-up meeting this year.
