INDONESIAN POLICIES IN RESPONDING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION TOWARDS MIGRANT WORKERS IN MALAYSIA (2010-2014)

Abstract

Indonesian domestic workers' right violation has become a concern not only in domestic scope but also international scope due to the increase of violence cases. Meanwhile, the number of Indonesian people interested to work abroad as migrant workers is continue to increase every year. The increased interest of Indonesian people to become migrant worker caused by several factors such as: firstly, it gives large economic benefits not only for the workers, but also their family and country. Second, it provides more job opportunities, as inside Indonesia itself the job opportunities is still limited that led to unemployment rate inside the State is quite high. The destined countries by Indonesian migrant workers are Malaysia, the Middle East, Taiwan, Hongkong, Japan, Australia and the United States. These countries rely upon migrant workers to fill labor shortages that arise when the domestic labor force cannot meet the labor demands created by their fast growing economies. Malaysia is the most destined country as geographically it's the closest country with Indonesia. This research is aimed to find how effective have the Indonesian government in handling the migrant workers' right violation in Malaysia and to know whether the policies have been exercised properly or not. In addition to know what policies that have been established by the government in handling the issue and what the reaction and actions taken by the government in dealing with cases that have occurred. The handling of violence cases of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia is not quite effective. Many cases have not been resolved until now specifically related with illegal workers. The bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia still not yet reached it best in regard with protection of migrant workers in Malaysia. Lack of understanding and cooperation between parties involved and lack of self-awareness to the dangers of illegal workers are the factors that cause violence against migrant workers difficult to resolve.