Indonesia

Malaysia and Indonesia are close to signing a comprehensive agreement on migrant workers that will better protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia from abuse by employers.

Both governments have settled all differences except for the issue of minimum salary for the more than 2 million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i Bachtiar said.

Jakarta Traffic Police reported that on Thursday Jakarta would host 11 rallies, including those held to commemorate the International Migrants Day, which fall on Dec. 18, issuing warning of possible traffic congestion near the rally sites.

The police said in their website that a group calling themselves Indonesian Migrant Labor Defender Team would held a rally at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta around 8:30 a.m..

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will join other countries as a party to the UN convention on protecting migrant workers, a Law and Human Rights Ministry official said.

"We are preparing the academic draft (of the necessary regulations)," the ministry`s director general of human rights, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, said on the sidelines of a function to mark the 2009 World Human Rights Day here on Thursday.

On screen, in a TV show, she might be the naïve kampung girl Oneng. But in real life, as a seasoned activist in the field of feminism and human rights, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka has recently taken on a new challenge: to speak on behalf of migrant workers.

At an event to gather support for the ratification of the International Migrant Convention, Rieke took to the stage as the ambassador for migrant workers.