Govt Committed to Protecting Indonesian Worker Overseas: Minister

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Sunday that the Indonesian Government is committed to bringing innovations and better protections for Indonesian citizens overseas.

The message was conveyed by Minister Marsudi during her visit to Singapore to launch three innovations of products and application for Indonesian workers` protections in Singapore, press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

"The President`s message to me is clear and firm. Provide the best service for all Indonesian citizens wherever they are!" Marsudi said.

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To provide service to Indonesians overseas, starting on April 1, 2018, all Indonesian representatives overseas gradually will apply an Information System of Indonesian Citizens Service and Protection accessible in the Peduli WNI website.

In April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will launch the Peduli WNI website and SafeTravel, Marsudi said.

Peduli WNI website is a service system for Indonesians overseas which is integrated online with national civil data of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and employment data of the The Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) and the Ministry of Manpower.

Through the system, service to all Indonesian representatives overseas will be integrated and can be accessed online.

During her visit in Singapore, Minister Marsudi also met with around 4,500 Indonesian workers in the country and launched three innovations on Indonesian workers protection.

The three launched innovations are the Indonesian worker card for seamen (KIPS-Pelaut); Job Order Online, an application for private recruitment agencies or PPTKIS and working partners; BPJS On I-PIS, a data integration of the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) for Indonesian workers in Singapore.

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Each worker card or KIPS-Pelaut has an built-in chip that contains information of a particular Indonesian seaman to enable online access to the status of the holder.

Meanwhile, the second innovation launched, Job Order Online, is an application to facilitate any agency or migrant worker placement firm to submit documents on the placement of migrant workers online and agency accreditation.

They no longer need to submit the required documents to the Indonesian Embassy but instead through an online application.

The last application launched is BPJS on I-PIS, which is integrated data of the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan for Indonesian workers and an application of Indonesian Workers in Singapore (I-PIS).

Since all Indonesian workers are obligated to join the social security system, the application will enable the government to identify those who have yet to register at the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.

Foreign Minister Marsudi conveyed to the Indonesian workers, majority are women, that they can focus on their work for the government to continue providing protections for the workers in the sovereign city-state.

"The government will focus on providing the best protections to all of you," Marsudi said.

Moreover, Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Ngurah Swajaya said that the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore will be always working to provide the best service for the migrant workers.

From Singapore, Minister Marsudi will depart for Moscow, Russia, to attend a bilateral meeting with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Minister Marsudi is scheduled to visit Russia on March 12-13 to discuss the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Russia and the planned visit of Russian President Putin to Indonesia.

ANTARA