Work rights for non-citizens is a controversial issue for most – if not all – governments, and Indonesia is no exception.

Like other countries with large numbers of migrant workers overseas and a small population of non-citizens at home, Indonesia applies different standards when it comes to their work rights.

My research on foreign migrants in Indonesia suggests the government does little to help non-citizens trafficked into Indonesia for the purpose of labour exploitation. But what about other groups of migrants?

On the one hand, the government has relentlessly defended the rights of the 9 million or so Indonesian migrants working abroad. Indonesian workers have been exploited and abused in countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the government denies a wide range of non-citizens the right to make a living in Indonesia.

In 2020, the government permitted 98,761 foreign professionals to work in Indonesia. They make up only 0.07% of its labour force. Compared to other countries, the figure is small. In Singapore, for example, it was 35%.

In the same year, the Indonesian government issued 25,435 family-reunification visas for non-citizens. These visas allow them to join their spouses and parents who can either be Indonesian or non-citizens themselves. However, none of these visa holders was permitted to work.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Wayne Palmer (The Conversation)

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