Legal dan ethical debates of human rights protection for non-documented migrant workers in Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia is a member of the World Trade Organization and the ASEAN Economic Community. As consequences of such the memberships, Indonesia must eliminate trade barrier and open its border and being a more liberal country. On the trade in services, competition between local workers and migrant workers is unavoidable. Many non-documented migrant workers in some cases work in Indonesia as well. Indonesia also has international obligation to protect non-documented migrant workers, since Indonesia has ratified International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Family.

A local aspect of human right protection, on one hand, creates obligation for Indonesian government to secure proper and sufficient job opportunities and decent works for its citizens. On the other hand, an international aspect of human right protection requires Indonesia to protect human rights of non-documented migrant workers, despite negative sentiments about their existence in Indonesia have often expressed by many parties in the community. Questions have been arisen: should we acknowledge and protect any right of non-documented migrant workers, or should we deny their presents in Indonesia and ignore any possible right that is supposed to be secured for them as human beings?