Indonesia to give migrant workers free cell phones

The government is planning to equip Indonesian migrant workers who are sent to South Korea with free mobile phones to connect with the family and with the Indonesian government.

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) signed a memorandum of agreement with a telecom, PT Nurkumala Abadi, on providing cell phones to migrant workers sent to South Korea.

BNP2TKI’s Head Jumhur Hidaya (pictured) said it is expected that the cell phones will enable them to communicate with their family members and related government authorities in Indonesia more frequently. “Let’s hope that this reduces the amount of problems faced by migrant workers,” he added. The government has sent 2,923 migrant workers to the country from January to July 4.

PT Nurkumala Abadi Hermin general manager Abdul Syukur said that before leaving to South Korea, the workers would have to complete a registration form and once they have arrived in South Korea, the workers will receive cell phones just by showing the form.

The company had committed to provide 8,000 to 10,000 cell phones each year. BNP2TKI data has recorded 3,962 migrant workers that were sent to South Korea in 2010 and 2,024 workers in 2009. The largest number of workers sent to South Korea was recorded in 2008 when 11,885 workers were sent there; almost tripling the 2007’s figure of 4,303 workers.

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