Part 1

• Challenge and Social Support to Improve Indonesian Migrant Worker’s Long-Distance Parenting Capacity in Indonesia and Taiwan Heri Herdiawanto Universitas Al Azhar Yuherina Gusman Al-Azhar University of Indonesia

  International labor migration is critical to Indonesia’s development strategy since it helps alleviate poverty and unemployment while increasing foreign exchange revenues via remittances. Women who have been forced to leave their families constitute up the large majority of these migrant laborers. Mother migration has both positive and negative impacts. Unfortunately, the disadvantages of mother migration outweigh the advantages for their families, particularly the children left behind. In this context, migrant mothers and their families require support from close relatives, the Indonesian government, and receiving nations to continue their journey without sacrificing their children.

• Going Back, Moving On: Empowerment of Indonesian Returned Migrant Workers for Sustainable Reintegration Retno Widyastuti Bonn University

  This research examines the life cycle of Indonesian migrant workers, particularly the stage of return and reintegration. Returnees may find difficulties readjusting and reconstructing their lives once they return home due to many economic, social, and psychosocial problems. As a result, it is critical for governments and related stakeholders in origin countries to implement long-term reintegration strategies that address the economic, social, and psychosocial needs of returning migrants while also benefiting communities of origin and resolving structural reintegration issues. It can enable returnees to achieve sustainable reintegration through reintegration and post-return assistance.

• Taking care? Indonesian (wo)manpower for German nursing sector Alexander Loch University of Applied Science Ludwigsburg

  Approximately 24,000 Indonesian citizens currently live in Germany (kemlu.go.id). The country’s new “skilled workers immigration act” facilitates immigration of qualified personnel, who have already acquired German language skills before departure (make-it-in-germany.com).
  One approach to counterbalance demographic trends of its aging population is to increase net migration: In 2021, the German health system faced a shortage of approx. 200,000 nursing professionals, while vacant healthcare positions currently remain unfilled for an average of around 240 days and the projected demand for nursing staff in Germany in 2030 is estimated to require additional 500,000 qualified healthcare personnel (DPR 2021).

  It is therefore not surprising that state actors, such as the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and its Center for Overseas Placements and Experts (ZAV) as well as a large number of private-sector companies, engage in “headhunting” care-workers abroad. Recently the German BA signed the first placement agreement with the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Board (BP2MI). This creates the basis for the recruitment and employment of Indonesian nursing staff for hospitals, clinics and care facilities in Germany. Indonesian ambassador A.H. Oegroseno welcomes the recruitment of Indonesian professionals in the nursing sector; follow-up procedures will examine possibilities for additional occupational groups. German Development Cooperation foresees “triple win” of such arrangements with partner countries enjoying a surplus of qualified experts that cannot be absorbed by the local labor markets. By working in German hospitals or care facilities for elderly people, Indonesian nurses get the chance to receive fair salaries and learning opportunities while German employers receive the urgently needed human resources – and the migrants’ remittances and the transfer of know-how ideally contributes to development in the countries of origin (GIZ 2022). A first cohort of 200 future perawat is currently being prepared for their deployment in Germany by GIZ.
  However, various questions arise during interviews with care professionals from Indonesia and participant observation in the various stages of the migration cycle: Who cares? What expectations do migrants and BP2MI have about fair remuneration, integration and return? Who is taking care of cultural factors? Do German “integration courses” contribute to harmonize Javanese mindsets and German straightforwardness? What is needed for professional onboarding of Indonesians? Does all that comply with the World Health Organisation’s Code of Conduct for the International Recruitment of Health Professionals? Who benefits in the end – and do remittances and know-how transfer really lead to development processes in the country of origin (as foreseen in the triple win paradigm)?

  A recently started research project at the University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg together with Indonesian partners in Jakarta and Yogyakarta is investigating these questions among others and invites international scholars to participate and cooperate.

Part 2

• A Harsh Discipline as a Strategy in Pre-Departure Training for Technical Interns Program: A Case Study of Indonesian Trainees Bound for Japan? Yusy Widarahesty Ritsumeikan University

  The emergence of different types of workers under the visa trainee program in Japan with different systems from workers has existed ever since the change in its immigration policy in 1990. Indonesia has sent trainees to Japan under a cooperation agreement signed in 1993 between Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the Japan Association of International Manpower Development Japan under the Technical Intern Trainee Program. The program aims to transfer skills and technology from Japan to other countries. In reality, however, it has become a source of inexpensive labor for small and midsized companies unable to secure enough personnel. Training is often not conducted according to plan, wages not paid as required, and work accidents occur. Brokers intervene in the process, demand payment of deposits or interns include fugitives, and there are fraud cases. Worse still, many trainees have suffered systematic abuse even before departure during the training period through semi-military practices in the name of increasing endurance and persistence.

• Living and Working Adaptation of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Korea: Issues and Prospects Nawawi National Research and Innovation Agency

  The economic relations between Korea and Indonesia have been shaved by factor leading to the movement of goods, capital, culture and people. Currently, the interspatial transfer of these movements has been defined by the asymmetric needs of each country. Korea, through its emerging economy would require productive overseas migrant workers to support its industrial development as well as to deal with the problem of ageing population. Indonesia, with its excess of labor and demographic bonus, attempts to provide employment by maximizing opportunities in abroad, including dispatching its labor to Korea.

  Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, this paper analyses the socio-economic and demographic background of Indonesian migrant workers in Korea and identifies strategies in response to the issues related to skill and Korea-related trainings in Indonesia (pre-departure preparation), working and living adaptation in Korea, and the use of work outcomes after returning from Korea. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the political, economic, cultural, and social dimensions of Indonesian migrant workers in Korea. It is found that the appeal of better salary and high demand of foreign labour in Korea are the two main causal propulsion of Indonesian looking jobs to Korea. However, the entire process of international migration of Indonesian workers requires further improvement for the benefit of both countries, Indonesia as sending countries and Korea as receiving countries

• Overview of Family Resilience of Indonesian Female Migrant Workers in Taiwan Muhammad Iqbal Universitas Mercu Buana Yuherina Gusman Al-Azhar University of Indonesia

  The increasing number of parents working overseas enhances the number of transnational families. Many of these parents decide to work abroad to strengthen family resilience, especially in the economic sector. However, transnational families caused the suffer and psychological distress to the left-behind children due to the absence of a parent, which caused a lack of social support and guidance, especially when the parents who migrate are mothers. This paper aims to figure out the influence of transnational families on family resilience in Indonesia and how Indonesian female migrant workers’ strategies in Taiwan to cope with these challenges. Yet, this study aimed to identify and examine the level of family resilience of Indonesian Female migrant workers in Taiwan to prevent family resilience problems.

Show Paper Abstracts

Abstract

Keywords

• Governance
• Indonesia
• Labor
• Migration
• Transnationalism