TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Of the many heartbreaking reports that appear on the public radar, one is about the tens of thousands of Indonesians working aboard foreign fishing boats. Their tragic condition should be a stark reminder of the government"s responsibility to its people. It should also serve to remind us that our nation is still unable to provide its citizens with decent jobs, and worse, it is negligent about protecting them when they work for foreign companies.
Widespread unemployment has pushed many Indonesian youths to sign up as crewmen aboard foreign fishing trawlers. Our investigation reveals that tens of thousands toil on Taiwanese vessels in particular, without any form of legal or other protection. They do not receive any training, nor are they furnished with proper employment documentation by their recruiting agents, who only hold a business license issued by the Trade Ministry.
The government should immediately issue stricter regulations governing these recruitment and placement agencies because in Taiwan, most of the crew members are not recognized as legal workers. Consequently, not only don"t they get any protection, but they cannot be monitored by the Indonesian representative office in Taipei.
We are aware that many Indonesians working on Taiwanese fishing vessels are treated inhumanely. One tragic example is Supriyanto, from the Central Java town of Tegal, who died under suspicious circumstances aboard a fishing vessel on September 2015.
The crew are often treated like slaves. They routinely work more than 20 hours a day and when the fish are biting, they get no sleep at all. If they refuse to work, they are severely mistreated. Some call it torture. The fishermen can"t do much because quitting means breaking their contract and they would be liable to a fine and loss of wages. Such shameful behavior often leads to rebellion, and in some cases to the murder of the ship"s captain.
Regulating and disciplining agents who recruit the "seafaring slaves" would not be a difficult thing to do if the government takes the time to review its overlapping regulations. The Transportation Ministry feels it must handle the recruitment licenses of crew members of all vessels, including overseas fishing boats. Hence the existence of Regulation No. 84/2013 under which recruitment and placement agents engaged in the fishing industry must hold a Transportation Ministry business license.
Then there"s the Manpower Ministry, which requires agencies recruiting fishing boat crews to hold similar licenses before they can place Indonesian workers in overseas jobsjust like those which hire domestic migrant workers for assignments abroad.
This overlapping of authority has never been reviewed and corrected and has been taken advantage of by the recruiting agencies. All they need to do is place workers on fishing vessels, equipping them only with a copy of a contract between the agency and the crew member.
The Transportation Ministry has the technical capability to manage trawler crews because they are used to handling Indonesian sailors for commercial shipping. But according to Law No. 39/2004 covering the placement and protection of migrant workers, it is the Manpower Ministry which should be in charge of handling seamen across the board. Article 28 says, "Placement of migrant workers and their specific jobs are further regulated by a ministerial regulation." In the clarification, it is stressed that the specific jobs include those of seamen.
President Joko Widodo must take a hand in resolving this tangled problem. Corrective action is important because the transportation and manpower ministries come under the supervision of different coordinating ministers. The former is currently the responsibility of the coordinating minister for maritime affairs, while the latter is monitored by the coordinating minister for the economy.
In point of fact, the protection of workers should not come directly under the authority of the Manpower Ministry, but fall within the purview of the National Workers Protection and Placement Agency (BNPPTKI), which recently issued a notification to stop the recruitment of Indonesians for foreign fishing boats. The circular led to sharp protests from recruitment agencies.
If all ministries and agencies can work in unison, regulating the recruitment and placement process would be a lot easier, ending all debate on the issue. The police could also be involved if recalcitrant recruiting agencies are shown to be breaching the law on human trafficking.
Without any serious steps taken, the government will be seen to be neglecting the welfare of some of its poorest and neediest citizens. The Constitution clearly mandates the state to protect all Indonesians, including those treated as slaves aboard foreign fishing trawlers. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Edition
