TEMPO Interaktif
Selasa, 22 November 2005 | 16:48 WIB
Surabaya: Pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Timur (Jatim) akan menandatangani kerja sama pengiriman 450 ribu tenaga kerja Indonesia (TKI) dengan Infomaya Group of Companies, lembaga independen pelatihan peningkatan kualitas SDM dari Malaysia pada 1 Desember.
Anggota Komisi E (bidang Kesra) DPRD Jatim, Jamal Abdullah Al Katiri, menyatakan mulai tahun depan Malaysia melalui Infomaya membuka lowongan pekerjaan kepada 450 ribu TKI asal Jatim. Pekerjaan itu mulai dari pembantu rumah tangga, tukang batu, perkebunan sampai buruh pabrik. "Makanya bulan depan kami akan berangkat ke Malaysia," kata dia, Selasa (21/11).
Dalam nota kerja sama itu, lanjut Jamal, akan diatur berbagai hal terkait dengan TKI, misalnya perlakukan terhadap TKI, gaji, pelayanan kesehatan dan asuransi. Mulai awal tahun depan Dinas Tenaga Kerja Jatim akan membuka pendaftaran ke Malaysia
Menurutnya, biaya pemberangkatan TKI itu akan ditanggung sepenuhnya oleh pemerintah melalui Bank Jatim. Setiap orang diperkirakan menghabiskan biaya Rp 4 juta. "Nah dana empat juta itu akan ditanggung APBD Jatim. Pengembaliannya memotong gaji 15 persen perbulannya," papar politisi PPP ini.
Ketua Komisi E DPRD Jatim, Saleh Mukadar, menambahkan biaya keberangkatn TKI ini akan diambil dari pos belanja aparatur yang sudah dialihkan untuk proyek padat karya yang jumlahnya sebesar Rp 400 miliar. Sedangkan proses pembagian dana serta pembayaran cicilan akan dikelola oleh Bank Jatim. Adi Mawardi
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Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, 19 Nov 2005
International Herald Tribune (14 November05): Singapore shocker - Maid's day off
Foreign Workers in Singapore
-International Herald Tribune, 19 November 2005
Regarding "Singapore shocker: Maid's day off" by Philip Bowring (Views, Nov. 15): Foreign domestic workers receive full protection under Singapore's laws. All employers must provide adequate rest, meals and ensure work safety, proper housing and prompt payment of salary. They have the same rights as all employees they can accept or reject work conditions, including the number of rest days.
2. The Singapore government does not tolerate abuse or exploitation of foreign domestic workers. Upon arrival in Singapore, they are educated in their rights through mandatory courses on safety and well being, and provided telephone numbers they can call for help. In 1998 we increased the fines and jail terms for offenses against foreign domestic workers. This has markedly reduced abuse cases.
3. According to Bowring, some allege that "only 'brown people' or those from non-Confucian societies" are employed in the most menial jobs. But Singapore accepts foreign workers from many places, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and South Korea. That the majority come from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka reflects their choice to work in Singapore because of better employment opportunities and conditions compared to other countries. Bowring says that Singapore faces difficulties because the income gap is widening, and the Malay population remains behind the rest. Singapore cannot escape the forces of globalization. The wages of less skilled workers are under pressure from the abundant low-cost labor in China and India. But even low-income workers in Singapore have seen rising wages and benefit from quality education, health care and public housing. Although the Malay community still lags behind the other groups, it has made enormous progress, especially in education. Singapore Malays outperform students in most developed countries in mathematics and science. Bowring criticized Singapore for "dispersing minorities around public housing" estates and acting firmly against incitement of racial and religious hatred. But our policy of integrating ethnic groups within housing estates and schools has worked. It has enabled us to build trust and confidence in a multicultural society and increasingly to discuss sensitive issues openly, such as Islamist terrorism.
4. Post-9/11, many nations are grappling with issues of national and religious identity. We have seen riots and even murders in the name of religion in European countries. Against this backdrop, Bowring's attack on Singapore's pragmatic and integrative approach appears puzzling, if not misguided.
K. Bhavani
Press Secretary for the Minister of Information
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BBC World Service
Wednesday, 16 November 2005, 17:58 GMT
Migrant worker
Migration can help people dig their way out of poverty
The international "brain drain" can boost the wealth of migrants as well as the countries they originate from, a World Bank report says.
If remittance policies are improved migration can be of all-round benefit, according to its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report for 2006.
This year recorded remittances worldwide will exceed $232bn (£135bn).
Of this, developing countries received $167bn, more than twice the level of development aid from all sources.
The reports suggests that money sent home sent through informal channels could add at least 50% to the official estimate.
Vital source
This means remittances are the largest source of external capital in many developing countries, beating any cash influx from foreign investment.
Migration is truly a global phenomenon
Dilip Ratha, World Bank report author
Countries receiving the most in recorded remittances are India, China, Mexico, France and the Philippines.
But the sums involved are most significant for smaller countries such as Tonga, Moldova, Lesotho, Haiti and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the money sent back accounts for the biggest share of the total economy (% of GDP).
Interestingly, money sent home from one developing country to another - the so-called "South-South flows" - represent 30% to 45% of total remittances.
"Migration is truly a global phenomenon," said Dilip Ratha, a co-author of the report.
"Many countries, both developed and developing, both send and receive migrants, and both send and receive remittances."
Helping poverty
The report said an increase in migrants would raise the workforce in high-income countries by 3% in 2025 - the same rate as the last 20 years - would lead to a rise in global real income by 0.6% or $356bn.
This is as great a benefit as the estimated gains from a world trade deal.
"With the number of migrants worldwide now reaching almost £200m, their productivity and earnings are a powerful force for poverty reduction," says Francois Bourguignon, World Bank chief economist.
Meanwhile, analysis shows that remittances are associated with significant drops in poverty in several poorer countries, particularly in Uganda, Bangladesh and Ghana.
In addition, the impact of remittances appears to help households keep their head above water in times of domestic economic crisis.
Money sent back home triggers investment in education and health as well as fuelling entrepreneurship, the report found.
Fees 'too high'
However, the hefty fees charged by remittance service providers are preventing even more money being sent back to friends and families and home.
RECORD REMITTANCES
India - $21.7bn
China - $21.3bn
Mexico - $18.1m
France - $12.7bn
Philippines - $11.6bn
Source: World Bank
Providers have been found to charge as high as 10% to 15% for small transfers, which are typically made by poorer migrants.
The World Bank urged increased competition in the transfer market to encourage lower fees, thereby freeing up the disposable income of poor migrants and boosting the incentive to send more money home.
And it opposed efforts by government to tax remittances and cautioned against providing incentives to direct remittances to specific areas or sectors through matching-fund programmes.
These schemes have met with little success in the past, it said.
"Remittances are hard-earned income that, in most cases, has already been taxed," said World Bank chief economist Francois Bourguignon.
"They should not be taxed again, and governments should not try to count them as development aid."
Bank networks should be expanded, the report said, and domestic banks in origin countries should be allowed to operate overseas to help facilitate a fair an efficient remittance market.
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BBC World Service
16 November 2005
Migration can help people dig their way out of poverty
The international "brain drain" can boost the wealth of migrants as well as the countries they originate from, a World Bank report says.
If remittance policies are improved migration can be of all-round benefit, according to its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report for 2006.
This year recorded remittances worldwide will exceed $232bn (£135bn).
Of this, developing countries received $167bn, more than twice the level of development aid from all sources.
The reports suggests that money sent home sent through informal channels could add at least 50% to the official estimate.
Vital source
This means remittances are the largest source of external capital in many developing countries, beating any cash influx from foreign investment.
Migration is truly a global phenomenon
Dilip Ratha, World Bank report author
Countries receiving the most in recorded remittances are India, China, Mexico, France and the Philippines.
But the sums involved are most significant for smaller countries such as Tonga, Moldova, Lesotho, Haiti and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the money sent back accounts for the biggest share of the total economy (% of GDP).
Interestingly, money sent home from one developing country to another - the so-called "South-South flows" - represent 30% to 45% of total remittances.
"Migration is truly a global phenomenon," said Dilip Ratha, a co-author of the report.
"Many countries, both developed and developing, both send and receive migrants, and both send and receive remittances."
Helping poverty
The report said an increase in migrants would raise the workforce in high-income countries by 3% in 2025 - the same rate as the last 20 years - would lead to a rise in global real income by 0.6% or $356bn.
This is as great a benefit as the estimated gains from a world trade deal.
"With the number of migrants worldwide now reaching almost £200m, their productivity and earnings are a powerful force for poverty reduction," says Francois Bourguignon, World Bank chief economist.
Meanwhile, analysis shows that remittances are associated with significant drops in poverty in several poorer countries, particularly in Uganda, Bangladesh and Ghana.
In addition, the impact of remittances appears to help households keep their head above water in times of domestic economic crisis.
Money sent back home triggers investment in education and health as well as fuelling entrepreneurship, the report found.
Fees 'too high'
However, the hefty fees charged by remittance service providers are preventing even more money being sent back to friends and families and home.
RECORD REMITTANCES
India - $21.7bn
China - $21.3bn
Mexico - $18.1m
France - $12.7bn
Philippines - $11.6bn
Source: World Bank
Providers have been found to charge as high as 10% to 15% for small transfers, which are typically made by poorer migrants.
The World Bank urged increased competition in the transfer market to encourage lower fees, thereby freeing up the disposable income of poor migrants and boosting the incentive to send more money home.
And it opposed efforts by government to tax remittances and cautioned against providing incentives to direct remittances to specific areas or sectors through matching-fund programmes.
These schemes have met with little success in the past, it said.
"Remittances are hard-earned income that, in most cases, has already been taxed," said World Bank chief economist Francois Bourguignon.
"They should not be taxed again, and governments should not try to count them as development aid."
Bank networks should be expanded, the report said, and domestic banks in origin countries should be allowed to operate overseas to help facilitate a fair an efficient remittance market.
Read More...
Summary only...
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