Indonesia Pushes Stronger Migrant Worker Protection Ahead of Malaysia Summit

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is actively consolidating its diplomatic strategy to strengthen legal protections and expand educational access for Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

The coordinated push comes ahead of the 14th Annual Consultation summit, a bilateral meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim scheduled for the first half of August 2026 in Penang, Malaysia.

"Many stakeholders are explicitly involved in the statutory regulations. Therefore, this must become our shared foundation to synergize and effectively implement the mandate of migrant worker protection," Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection (P2MI) Minister Mukhtarudin said during a virtual coordination meeting with Indonesian diplomats in Malaysia on Friday, June 12, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

Mukhtarudin emphasized that safeguarding migrant workers requires airtight integration stretching from overseas diplomatic missions and the central government down to provincial, regency, and village administrations.

During the coordination meeting, Ambassador Mohammad Iman Hascarya Kusumo outlined two key priorities that Indonesia plans to raise at the upcoming talks in Penang.

The first is the acceleration of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) governing the recruitment and placement of Indonesian workers in Malaysia, which is expected to provide greater legal protection and reduce the risk of labor exploitation. The second is securing official recognition for Indonesian Community Learning Centers (CLCs) located outside plantation areas, a move considered essential to ensuring educational access for the children of Indonesian migrant workers.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) strongly backed the diplomatic push, noting that securing the right to education for the children of migrant workers is an inseparable component of protecting Indonesian citizens abroad.

Ministry Secretary-General Suharti highlighted that tens of thousands of school-aged Indonesian children reside in Malaysia, a significant portion of whom currently hold undocumented status.

"Now, this is the problem. These children might be born and raised in Malaysia, but they are still Indonesian children. Their future is something we simply cannot ignore," Suharti said firmly.

Suharti explained that expanding educational access overseas directly aligns with President Prabowo Subianto’s Asta Cita vision, which prioritizes human resource development under the banner of Quality Education for All.

While acknowledging that providing services to undocumented children in a foreign jurisdiction presents steep operational challenges, the Ministry committed to working alongside the P2MI Ministry and the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to forge a comprehensive solution. By pairing labor protections with institutional educational access, the government aims to deploy a holistic safety net for its largest diaspora community. ***