The Jakarta Globe:

Indonesian migrant workers are a step closer to securing legal recognition of their right to protection after the House of Representatives agreed in principle to ratify an international convention on the issue later this week.

At a hearing between House Commission IX and officials from the Foreign and Manpower and Transmigration Ministries, it was agreed that the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families would be raised before a plenary session of the House on Thursday for passage into law.

Muhaimin Iskandar, the manpower and transmigration minister, welcomed the move as recognition for the need to protect Indonesian workers abroad.

“This is a victory for all, including for the migrant worker and the rights activists who continued to push for the ratification of the convention,” he said. Read more