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After Saudi Domestic Worker Ban, Govt Seeks to Send Skilled Labor
Anita Rachman | November 01, 2011

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DrDez
6:32am Nov 1, 2011

NO NO NO NO

WE cannot afford to lose the few skilled dudes we have

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Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, keen to offset the impact of a moratorium on sending domestic workers to Saudi Arabia, says he has secured commitments for 7,000 skilled Indonesian workers to work in the formal sector in the Gulf kingdom.

In a press release sent by the ministry from Jeddah on Monday, Muhaimin said several Saudi businesspeople had on Sunday made an offer of 7,000 jobs to be filled by skilled Indonesian workers.

The businesspeople included Abdul Razzaq bin Dawood, chairman of the Bin Dawood Group, which has supermarket chains, hotels, factories and properties in Jeddah.

The positions offered were in the formal sector, for workers such as drivers, salespeople, clerks, cashiers and nurses. The Bin Dawood Group alone, Muhaimin said, needed 3,000 workers including drivers, cashiers, clerks and warehouse staff.

Muhaimin said that filling the positions could offset the impact of the government’s decision to stop sending domestic helpers and unskilled workers to Saudi Arabia following rising cases of abuse, torture and mistreatment of Indonesian migrant workers there.

“The government is applying this strategy to push for the placement of migrant workers in the formal sector, rather than placing domestic workers such as maids,” he said.

He said he hoped that if the government could successfully increase the number of migrant workers approved to work in the formal sector in Saudi Arabia “slowly, we are going to reduce [the number of workers in] the informal sector to zero.”

Muhaimin, who is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia until next Tuesday, said the commitments still had to be followed up.

The ministry also still has to assess the preparedness of Indonesian workers, including in skills, competence, language and cultural adaptation as well as ensuring they have the necessary documents.

Muhaimin said that job opportunities in the formal sector were wide open in Saudi Arabia, and Indonesians should strive to fill those vacancies.

He also said that his ministry would involve local governments in recruiting migrant workers and ensure their quality and preparedness.

“We also are going to tighten the monitoring system,” Muhaimin said.

However, Migrant Care coordinator Wahyu Susilo said a moratorium should mean a total halt in sending workers, as its aim was to pressure Saudi Arabia to step up protection of Indonesians workers, especially those in domestic roles.

Sending thousands of skilled Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia would teach Riyadh nothing, he said.

“[Muhaimin] shouldn’t concentrate on finding markets but stick to negotiation and set up a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia,” he said.