JakartaPost-March 17, 2025
Indonesia is set to lift a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia, expecting it to offer 600,000 job opportunities mostly for domestic workers that could contribute to around Rp 31 trillion (US$1.89 billion) in foreign exchange earnings. Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding said on Sunday that the decision to lift the ten-year-old ban came after a meeting between him and President Prabowo Subianto at the Palace on Friday. “The moratorium lifting is set to take place in March, God willing on the 20th if there’s no hurdle,” Karding said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com. Karding said that after lifting the ban, the government is expected to send 600,000 Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia gradually starting as early as June of this year, comprising 400,000 domestic workers and 200,000 skilled laborers – although he did not describe what kind of skilled employment would be available. “The potential foreign exchange earnings will be Rp 31 trillion […] if we can send 600,000 workers,” Karding said on Friday. Indonesia first issued a moratorium for sending workers to Saudi in 2011, which lasted until 2014. Just one year after lifting the ban, Indonesia applied a more extensive moratorium in 2015, prohibiting domestic workers from entering several Middle Eastern countries due to the lack of protection from the host countries, including Saudi Arabia. But Karding said that the Saudi government has been showing improvements in protecting migrant workers. Nuharsono of labor rights NGO Migrant Care warned the government to consider the decision carefully. While the government is keen to provide more job opportunities for domestic workers, the government has not yet been able to solve numerous problems faced by migrant workers, including in Saudi, he said. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/03/17/indonesia-to-lift-ban-on-sending-workers-to-saudi-expecting-600000-jobs.html.
