Migrant Workers Should be Taught about Child Care

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Children of Indonesian migrant workers in Maudana village, Southwest Sumba. They are still learning in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, under the guidance of the Donders Indonesia Foundation, which is managed by the Congregation of Pastors Redemptoris, CSsR Sumba.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The knowledge of Indonesian migrant workers about the importance of childcare needs to be improved to ensure that the rights of their children are fulfilled. Such an effort can be started by providing Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) training courses on childcare. Comprehensive training must be provided before they leave for overseas.

"So, they will have the knowledge on how to take care of their children when they are abroad. They will also know how to build communication with their children in Indonesia. They should be given detailed guidelines, " Tyas Retno Wulan, a teacher of sociology at the School of Social and Political Sciences, Jenderal Soedirman University, Purwokerto, said on Monday (8/3/2021).

Also read: Children of Migrant Workers Miss the Attention

Intense communication between children of migrant workers (APM) and their parents abroad is the key to ensure that the children will not lose attention from their parents. When Indonesians work abroad, their children are usually eft with their husband / wife or even their grandparents or relatives. After that, there is no communication. Parenting is also neglected.

So, they will have the knowledge on how to take care of their children when they are abroad.

The lack of care and protection has caused a number of APM children to become malnourished and vulnerable to becoming victims of physical, psychological or sexual violence. Apart from not getting optimal education and nourishment, they also have difficulty in obtaining population documents such as birth certificates, so that they are unable to access government assistance programs (Kompas, 8/3/2021).

Also read: My Grandmother, My Parent…

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Bariah (50) and Rustim (60) with their grandson Farizi (2) in Mungkik Hamlet, Pandan Wangi Village, Jerowaru District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Wednesday (3/3/2021). The grandfather and grandmother currently have to take care of four grandchildren, each of whom both parents are migrant workers.

Tyas revealed that PMI\'s long-distance communication and care for their children required special efforts. But, now it was getting easier due to the advancement of information technology.

"The migrant workers can take advantage of information technology. They can make video calls anytime with their children. The communication will bring a positive impact on the children\'s psychological condition, at least, give the children pride that their parents are working hard abroad, "said Tyas.

In addition to giving knowledge to the PMI, community-based child care can also be set up so that the government and the public can also pay attention to the APM children. A village that has many APM children can map their profiles, such as related to their age, education, gender and their problems.

Also read: Pandemic, the Illegal Recruitment of Prospective Migrant Workers Uncontrolled

When you know the problem, it is easier to handle it. However, such things are rarely done in villages. A number of villages have already run a special program for the APM children thanks to assistance from the government and NGOs or the government. However, most of the villages have not been covered by such programs.

Child care policy

From the government side, apart from Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning PMI Protection, which mandates the protection of PMI with its family, a number of policies and programs related to APM have been implemented.

For example, there is a Desmigrative Program (Productive Migrant Village) at the Manpower Ministry. There is also the TKI Family Development Program (now PMI Family Development) at the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, as well as the Migrant Workers Family Community Program run by the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI).

Kompas

Indonesian migrant workers maintain physical distance while queuing for their health and immigration check on Thursday (21/5/2020) at the Batam Center International Ferry Port in Batam, the Riau Islands. Afterwards, the workers were placed in quarantine at the Tanjung Uncang Dormitory in Batam.

However, in practice, the implementation of child care for the APM children is still largely gender-biased and does not involve men as active subjects in parenting patterns. Thus, it is still necessary to institutionalize a pattern of parenting that is unbiased and free from stigmatization.

Assistant deputy for the protection of the rights of working women and human trafficking crimes at the Empowerment of Women and Protection of the Child (KPPPA), Rafail Walangitan said that the ministry had included the topic of childcare in the pre-departure training materials for PMI candidates and their families, in addition to promoting the role of local governments and local communities in in taking care of the APM children.

Also read: Migrant Worker’s Fight Against Chronic Trauma

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa some time ago had said that the protection of migrant workers had become a priority in the province’s programs, particularly in ensuring that the children of the migrant workers received good care, supervision and treatment. The government of Tulungagung regency, East Java, has specifically issued a regulation that encourages a number of villages to allocate special funds for child protection, including for APM children.

Trenggalek regency, East Java, has also issued Regional Regulation Number 10 of 2019 concerning Social Welfare which regulates the protection of migrant workers and their families. According to Trenggalek regent, Mochamad Nur Arifin, one of the main causes of the increase in the migrant workers\' problems is due to difficulty of the local government in providing decent jobs for the residents.

Meanwhile, the West Java provincial government has also issued Regional Regulation No. 2/2021 concerning the Protection for PMIs from West Java. West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has promised to immediately issue the technical details for the implementation of the regulation. ( ZAK/ KOR / IKI / MEL/TAM/BRO/ETA/SON)

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.