Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - According to the head of the country's migrant worker protection agency, Indonesia prevented a grou...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - According to the head of the country's migrant worker protection agency, Indonesia prevented a group of its plantation employees from traveling to Malaysia because recruiters did not follow basic processes and majority of the workers did not have the proper visa.
Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer of palm oil behind Indonesia, was due to receive the first significant group of migrant workers since reopening borders, providing a boost to an industry battling a 100,000-strong labor shortfall.
BP2MI, an Indonesian agency, reported that 125 of the 148 workers scheduled to go this week did not yet have a visa to work in Malaysia, and the rest had other issues with their documents.
"(Authorities) were unable to conduct the pre-departure orientation since the visa was not in compliance with the law," BP2MI Director Benny Rhamdani said at a press conference on Thursday.
Despite the visa issues, he claimed, the agency had coordinated with Indonesia's Labor Ministry, which had ordered BP2MI to perform pre-departure orientation.
He added it would be up to Indonesia's immigration authorities to decide whether the workers could leave right after the orientation.
The news that Indonesia had barred the employees from departing boosted Malaysian palm oil futures this week, as investors fretted about a labor shortage.
Benny stated that possessing proper work documentation was vital to assist safeguard their rights in Malaysia, where a migrant workers' protection statute was "still insufficient," according to him.
Following a meeting of the nations' presidents in Jakarta in April, Indonesia and Malaysia reached an agreement to increase protection for domestic migrant workers.
Malaysia relies on foreign workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal to fill industry and plantation occupations that locals are unwilling to take.
In recent years, there have been growing worries over the treatment of migrant workers, with the US banning seven Malaysian companies in the previous two years for using what it considers "forced labor."
