(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Country training prospective candidates to take up jobs abroad says visiting official.
Abu Dhabi: The number of Indonesian workers in the Middle East alone will reach half a million within five years and more trained workers will be arriving in the UAE this year a senior official from that country said.
However he said the current ban on sending domestic workers to some Middle East and other countries will continue until agreements on the workers’ contractual rights are signed with them.
Speaking with Khaleej Times Nusron Wahid Chairman of the National Board for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers who was on a visit said the UAE is a potential market for Indonesian trained workers.
“We are preparing for an agreement that will increase the number of Indonesian workers here that would also make a great contribution to our economy. Manpower is one of the biggest economic sectors of the country and that is why we have established a special training programme for prospective candidates going abroad for work” said Wahid who has a ministerial rank and is responsible for overseas workers’ rights and affairs.
The official said it educates prospective job seekers about overseas work environments rules and regulations local traditions and customs local lifestyles and how to protect their rightful interests in every country they go for work. This programme serves both the workers and their employers.
“Under the programme prospective candidates also need special permits from the Ministry of Labour before they are recruited by authorised agencies” he explained. Wahid said most of the unscrupulous recruitment agencies in Indonesia have been closed down and fined during a persistent crackdown. “The crackdown will continue and we are also cooperating with countries where Indonesians go for work.”
Only officially authorised recruitment agencies in Indonesia and the countries they take up jobs can process recruitments now he assured.
He said the planned agreements with different countries including the UAE will end the corrupt practices of these agencies.
“Our main objective is to export well-trained professional manpower all over the world” he added.
According to Janususilo Labour Attache at the Indonesian Embassy 90 per cent of Indonesians working overseas now are domestic workers.
“But now our focus is on skilled workers whose numbers we are planning to increase.” The UAE Foreign Ministry statistics show 85000 Indonesians are working in the UAE as of October last year.About the problems the Indonesian workers face in some countries Wahid said non-payment of and delay in paying salaries top the list followed by maltreatment and breach of contracts.
“That is why we are now focusing on exporting skilled professionals to take up jobs in areas such as manufacture construction services engineering oil and gas and banking sectors.”
Wahid said his department is trying to ensure that workers’ passports are not taken away by their sponsors which is against the international rules.
On the distressed workers he said the shelter for such persons on the embassy’s premises has a capacity to accommodate 150 people. “As of now we have 160 female domestic workers in the shelter.
We are giving them full help and processing their documents so that they can either go home or find better jobs here.”
Wahid said they are working as a team with the UAE Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry and different departments like police and the immigration to protect the Indonesian workers’ rights.
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