Why Does Indonesia Have a Ministry for Migrant Workers?

KBRN, Jakarta: Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir briefly mentioned the importance of establishing a ministry for Indonesian migrant workers. In a press briefing by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said the decision to form the ministry is expected to increase efforts to address "upstream" problems.

"In the context of handling cases and protecting Indonesian citizens and migrant workers, it is not only downstream, but what is more important and what we need to support more is handling problems upstream," he said at the ministry's campus in Jakarta on Thursday (13/2/2025).

What is meant as "downstream" by Nasir is when the migrant workers settled outside Indonesia to work. Meanwhile, "upstream" is when the workers are still in their hometown and looking for jobs abroad.

Both have problems in the field, but the Indonesian government has a 'mandate' to overcome upstream issues. Some workers are known later to work via illegal agents, thus they don't work safely and legally. They are prone to organized crimes, including human trafficking.

This is a big deal, especially if the number of migrant workers is large. There are approximately 200,000 Indonesian migrant workers in 2022 alone, according to Indonesia's Central Board on Statistics (BPS). Most are from West Nusa Tenggara, a province east of Bali.

They commonly worked as maids, caregivers, or manufacturing workers, to pursue bigger salaries than in their hometown. Placement agents usually send them to several countries and regions.

Malaysia, which borders Indonesia, become the largest destination for Indonesian migrant workers, with a total number of 245,766 as of 2022. Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, located more than 3,000 kilometers away from Indonesia, is the second-largest.

Head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI), Benny Rhamdani with Indonesians who will work to South Korea, in northern Jakarta. (Photo: RRI/Ryan Suryadi)

Perhaps, the problems regarding Indonesian migrant workers send an urgency to create a ministry. In Prabowo Subianto's "Red-and-White" cabinet, new ministries are created; some are made from existing agencies. One of them is the Ministry of Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection, concurrently with the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency.

Abdul Kadir Karding led the ministry, commonly shortened to KP2MI/BP2MI. He's a politician of the pro-government National Awakening Party (PAN).

According to the ministry's website, the ministry was previously an agency rooted two decades ago. In 2004, the Indonesian parliament, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), enacted Act No. 39 of 2004.

The act regulated the placement and protection of Indonesian workers abroad, as well as created a new agency to protect the country's workers. The National Agency on Workers Placement and Protection (BNP2TKI) was established shortly after.

In 2017 the newly enacted Act No. 18 of 2017 was in force, establishing the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) to replace the BNP2TKI. BP2MI is tasked with implementing integrated policies in the service and protection of Indonesian migrant workers. With the status elevation of the BP2MI into a ministry in 2024, the government hoped the number of cases involving migrant workers could be reduced.