REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PADANG - Indonesian Government will stop sending Indonesian workers overseas in 2017, mainly for those working in informal sectors. Indonesian workers were expected to improve their skills with this policy, Minister of Manpowers and Transmigration Muhaimin Iskandar said.

"Indonesians can only work abroad in formal sector," Iskandar said on Tuesday.

The policy is also a step to prevent a case inflicting Indonesian workers. Indonesia spends 200 billion USD a year to protect Indonesian workers abroad. Indonesia has stopped sending informal workers such as domestic workers to Saudi Arabia. However, Iskandar admitted that many still go to Saudi Arabia illegally.

In a rape case involving a female Indonesian worker and three Malaysian Police, Iskandar said that Joint Task of Indonesia-Malaysia must evaluate the case and find a solution to decrease criminality against Indonesian workers in Malaysia. The sending of Indonesian workers to Malaysia had been stopped for two and a half year. The sending is continued after Malaysia and Indonesia signed an agreement, saying that Indonesian workers must at least take a day off in a week. The agreement also says that the salary must be transferred to bank account and also the workers must hold their own passport.

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