Training Costs for Indonesian Workers Most Expensive
Monday, 31 March, 2008 | 16:25 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Pre-departure training costs for Indonesian workers to Korea have been recorded as the most expensive cost compared to other countries in South East Asia.

Workers have to pay approximately US$510 to take part in the training.

This is much more expensive than Vietnam (US$290), Thailand (US$228) or the Philippine (US$109).

The data was collected through a survey carried out by the Korean government and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The survey was covered 500 migrant workers in Korea with originating from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, with balanced number of respondents.

“The respondents were those working through the Employment Permit System (EPS) program,” said Geoffrey Ducanes, ILO representative for the Asia region, during a national workshop entitled “Quality Improvement in the Recruitment and Preparation of Indonesian Migrant Workers to Korea”, on Saturday (29/3) last week.

Total expenses paid out by Indonesian workers before they start work are also recorded as the highest.

They have to pay for their flight ticket, passport and visa arrangement, and medical fees, all amounting to US$1,300.

The survey mentioned these expenses could in fact increase up to US$3,000.

According to Ducanes, the additional costs were spent on bribing agents.

To prevent this from happening again, Ducanes recommended that it would be best for applicant to use the government body for manpower affairs.

According to Ducanes, workers use agent's services because they do not know about the government program.

“Applicants lack information,” he said.

Kustomo Usman, Services Director of the National Placement and Protection Agency for Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), acknowledged that the government program needed to be more socialized.

“Many migrant workers do not know about it,” he said.

ANTON SEPTIAN