TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -The Labor Ministry said that the number of foreign workers in Indonesia are under control. In the first half of 2016, the number of foreign workers who entered the country reached 43,816 people.
"There is actually a downtrend compared to previous years," Labor Minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri said on Monday, July 25, 2016.
Data from the Ministry said that in 2010 Indonesia gave work licenses to 100,000 foreigners. In 2011, the number dropped to 77,307. In 2012 only 72,427 work licenses were given. In 2013 it dropped again to 68,957 and in 2014 there were only 68,762.
Last year, the government issued 69,025 work licenses for foreign nationals.
Hanif said his ministry continues to coordinate with the Directorate General of Immigration to prevent the entry of illegal foreign workers, including field workers. He said there have been cases where the foreigners working illegally with just a tourist visa—not a work visa.
There have also been foreign workers who are doing a different job from what their paperwork mention, "like the Halim bullet train case, where they claimed to be managers but they were doing field works."
Hanif asked the public and the media not to over-blow problems related with foreign workers, as excessive noise will make it seem like Indonesia is anti-foreigner, which would harm the domestic investment climate.
He asserted that the state will accept legal workers who adhere to rules, and rule breakers will be dealt with firmly. "Capture the fish, but do not muddy the waters," he said.
Hariyadi Sukamdani, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) said the declining number of foreign workers shows that the quality of Indonesian human resources has increased.
One industry that absorbs a large number of foreign laborers is the energy sector. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said said that foreign workers who want to work in the oil and gas sector and the electricity industry must have special skills and certified.
PINGIT ARIA