More than 13,000 Indonesian Workers Sent Home

Some 13,336 migrant workers had been sent home to Indonesia in 2010, the North Sumatra Workers Placement and Protection Agency said. The agency has sent 25,018 migrant workers to Malaysia for employment in the formal sector including plantations, construction projects, restaurants and electronic companies.

The migrant workers left for Malaysia by way of Polonia airport in Medan, Belawan port, and Teluk Nibung port in Tanjung Balai. While those for employment in the informal sector like house maids were still withheld in Indonesia in view of the moratorium declared by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar. The agency also disclosed that 13,336 workers had been sent home through Polonia airport in Medan and Teluk Nibung port. In December or by the end of 2010, 1,278 had returned to Indonesia either because their contracts had expired or for celebrating new year in Indonesia.