Migrant workers stage protests
Numerous candidate migrant workers have filed complaints against agencies that were supposed to have sent them overseas for employment.
Accompanied by lawyers from Indonesian Legal Aid (LBH) Bali, 51 workers visited the Bali Legislative Council office in Denpasar on Tuesday complaining that they were victims of PT Fortuna Bali Cemerlang and PT Reka Wahana Mulia.
The two companies had promised overseas employment in the formal sector to the 51 people despite their limited skills.
Members of the council's Commission IV and officials from the Agency for Placement and Protection of Migrant Workers (BP3TKI) had previously talked to the candidate employees and tried to seek a solution to the problem.
Ida Bagus Gede Srimbawa, former head of PT Reka Wahana Mulia Bali branch, also attended the meeting, becoming a target for the workers' anger.
Srimbawa explained that the company had ceased operating and closed its Bali branch.
He acknowledged that the company had recruited a number of people as candidate migrant workers after placing a newspaper advertisement.
There were many applicants as there were no complicated requirements.
"We were so eager to apply as the companies said we could be sent to countries like America, Canada and the UK," an applicant reported.
In February 2011, Srimbawa and director of PT Bali Fortuna Cemerlang, I Ketut Agus Mas Sewi Putra, signed an agreement stating that all applicants would be sent to destination countries within the following 12 months.
In June 2012, the candidates again asked the companies about their fate.
In the same month, they also reported their case to BP3TKI Bali asking for assistance.
Ilham Achmad, head of BP3TKI's protection and empowerment division, summoned the two agencies, who promised to return the money to the applicants within one to two months. However, neither agency fulfilled its promise.
During the recruitment process, candidates were required to pay fees, however, they received no official receipts.
Each candidate paid between Rp 20 to Rp 30 million of the required Rp 55 million for the overseas work placement.
"The money totaled about Rp 1.2 billion [US$119,500]," Achmad said.
Chairman of Commission IV, Nyoman Parta, promised to take the case to Jakarta.
"The first action would be to disburse the agencies' guarantee money held at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry," Patra said.
All legal recruitment agencies are required to place Rp 500 million with the ministry to serve as a guarantee fund.
Wayan Pageh, head of BP3TKI Bali, also intended to ask the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to revoke the operating permits of the two agencies.
"The problem with this method is that the agencies would receive their guarantee funds back, meaning the applicants could not draw on this for reimbursement," Pageh said.
A representative of the two agencies, Rafli Aditya, who is reported to also use the alias Laluh Hariadi Sopian, was summoned by Bali Police but failed to attend.
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