ANALYZING THE IMPACTS OF INDONESIA'S MORATORIUM POLICY AS A METHOD TO IMPROVE THE MECHANISM OF MIGRANT WORKERS PROTECTION IN SAUDI ARABIA 2011-2015

Abstract

The issue of Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has been experiencing a rapid growth in the last decades. The issues towards Indonesian migrant workers are mainly happen at informal sector which are, lack of protection that supposed to be given by the Government of Indonesia (GOI) through Indonesian embassy, limited regulations of protection from the Government of Saudi Arabia, and non-existence of Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. The complex issues make Indonesian domestic workers' position getting cornered due to their disability in gaining their rights that supposed to be given. In the process of implementation, the protections that GOI gives have not been maximal in ensuring the safety of Indonesian domestic workers abroad. The peak of the issues occurred during the death penalty for Ruyati binti Satubi which was conducted without giving any information towards the Indonesian authority. Therefore, the former President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, established a moratorium policy during the cabinet meeting on June 23, 2011. The objective of this research is to analyze the impacts of moratorium policy implementation to improve the mechanism of Indonesian domestic workers protection. The analysis is done based on the national interest of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in implementing their foreign policy to achieve national interest. In the case of Indonesian domestic workers, the moratorium policy is being seen as the way to protect Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia in which to achieve Indonesia's national interest of protecting its citizen.