Gov’t to Resume Sending Migrant Workers to Saudi

The Government is preparing to reopen the bilateral cooperation in the placement of migrant workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Minister of Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Abdul Kadir Karding has said.

“As we know, since 2015, Indonesia has imposed a moratorium on the bilateral cooperation in workers’ placement to Saudi Arabia,” Abdul Kadir Karding told reporters after meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (03/14).

According to the Minister, more than 25,000 Indonesian workers annually left for Saudi Arabia illegally due to the moratorium that has lasted for almost a decade. Therefore, his Ministry has contacted the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Manpower to discuss reopening the cooperation.

“We already reported the plan to the President and the MoU will be signed in Jeddah in the near future,” he said.

President Prabowo welcomed the plan to reopen the cooperation and instructed that the schemes for the workers’ training and placement shall be prepared soon.

The Minister added that Saudi Arabia has committed itself to provide around 600,000 job opportunities, consisting of around 400,000 job opportunities for domestic workers and the rest for formal workers.

Furthermore, Abdul Kadir also stated that under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the labor protection system in the Kingdom has improved significantly: workers will receive a minimum salary guarantee of SAR1,500, as well as various health, life, and employment protections with data integration to detect any non-procedural processes and to enable both sides to implement controls.

The cooperation scheme, the Minister continued, will emulate the model adopted in Hong Kong and Taiwan, in which the Indonesian migrant worker placement companies will collaborate with local agencies. He added that every Indonesian worker who has completed a two-year contract will receive an Umrah bonus from the Kingdom.

Abdul Kadir went on to say that if the MoU can be signed this March as planned, the Indonesian migrant workers can leave for Saudi Arabia no later than June 2025.

“Mr. President has ordered us to revoke the moratorium as soon as possible, since the opportunity is enormous. The foreign exchange that can be expected from remittances from the workers is Rp31 trillion if we can place more than 600 thousand workers there,” he remarked.

With President Prabowo’s support, the reopening of Indonesian migrant workers’ placement is expected to give more advantages to the workers and to boost national economic growth through remittances.

(BPMI Presidential Secretariat) (GWH/TM)