Vice President Jusuf Kalla has reiterated his stance that foreign workers are not stealing jobs from citizens, as they must abide by strict rules in order to work in Indonesia.
"Foreign workers have rules to stick to; that means that they must either possess special skills, or have investments [in Indonesia]. In addition, there is no such thing as free movement of labor into Indonesia," Kalla said during the World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday (02/08).
Indonesian Association of Trade Unions (Aspek) president Mirah Sumirat earlier stated that more that 7 million Indonesian workers are currently unemployed.
According to Mirah, the influx of Chinese workers into the country poses a threat to Indonesians' employment prospects, making it difficult for citizens to find work in their own country.
"The influx is due to intergovernmental investment cooperation, but when the investment does not favor local workers, it becomes a foreign invasion," Mirah said.
She said the government must consider the unemployment rate among Indonesians and act to stop the influx of foreign workers.
"This threat is no joke. The manpower ministry must look at the facts and not only at data that can be manipulated," Mirah said. "It's not only those from China that we must be wary of, but [workers] from the United States, South Korea and India must be looked at too."
Foreigners Are Not Stealing Indonesian Jobs: VP Kalla | Jakarta Globe
