REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BOGOR -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail discussed two issues related to the protection of Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) at a meeting here on Tuesday. The first area of focus was the extension of illegal Indonesian labor deportation by the Malaysian government, while the second pertained to the issue of education for the children of TKI in Malaysia.

"Two issues were highlighted by the Indonesian government regarding the protection of our migrant workers in Malaysia," National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI) Head Nusron Wahid remarked after accompanying President Jokowi to the meeting at the Bogor Palace.

Speaking in connection with the deportation problem, Nusron noted that it was once financed by the Malaysian government until the illegal workers arrived in Batam or Tanjung Pinang. However, currently, the detained illegal migrant workers were deported at their own expense, and they cannot return again to Malaysia.

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Hence, Nusron noted that the Indonesian government had requested that the policy be postponed, so that it can put forth an appeal to illegal TKIs, who could prepare themselves or who did not want to go home to pay levy or tax.

Related to education for the children of TKI in Malaysia, Nusron noted that the Malaysian government had granted 59 Community Learning Center (CLC) licenses in the regions of Sabah and Sarawak. However, the BNP2TKI head remarked that the 59 CLCs are considered to be lacking, so Indonesia requests that the number be increased, as the number of TKI children in the Sabah and Sarawak regions reaches 84 thousand.

In Malacca Peninsula, there is no CLC, so some 40 thousand TKI children there face difficulty in receiving education. The TKI in Malacca Peninsula mostly work illegally in the construction sector, and most of them are married and their children face difficulties in receiving education.

To this end, Nusron has urged the Malaysian government to grant permission to CLC in the Malacca Peninsula region in the areas of Kuala Lumpur, Johor, and Penang.

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