Jakarta (ANTARA) - Sixty-eight migrant workers have fallen victim to overcharging by 24 Indonesian migrant worker placement companies, the Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) has informed. "Total of reports, there are 68 migrant workers from 24 migrant worker placement companies," Head of BP2MI Benny Rhamdani said at a press conference here on Friday.
The migrant workers were overcharged by companies and their personal documents were withheld, he added. "The losses suffered by the 68 migrant workers vary. Some lost Rp25 million (US$1,673), some even lost up to Rp40 million (US$2,676)," he informed.
He pointed out that this happened despite his administration issuing BP2MI Regulation Number 1 of 2021 about changes to BP2MI Regulation Number 9 of 2020 about the placement of migrant workers free of charge.
According to the regulation, the placement of workers engaging in 10 types of jobs prone to exploitation is free of charge, he said. The jobs are those of maid, babysitter, nanny, elderly caregiver, chef, family driver, gardener, cleaning service, plantation staff, and ship crew, he explained.
He said the agency will take firm action against companies caught overcharging migrant workers, particularly in Hong Kong, by revoking their business permits. "BP2MI gives two weeks starting from today (June 16, 2023) for the migrant worker placement companies to resolve the issue," he added.
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Rhamdani also said that the agency will send a recommendation letter to the Manpower Minister for revoking the companies’ permit to run their business or place migrant workers if, within two weeks, the issue of overcharging is not resolved. "BP2MI will also report this case as a crime to the National Police," he added.
He said he expected that similar incidents would not happen to other migrant workers, considering they are the biggest source of foreign exchange. "I want the migrant workers to have the guts to report. We encourage them; do not be afraid of reporting," he stressed.