Komnas HAM COMMISSIONER Anis Hidayah said that Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) would be the disadvantaged parties in the implementation of Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 36 of 2023 concerning Import Policies and Regulations. The reason is, this new regulation requires that goods brought from abroad be limited.
“Actually, this policy causes the most harm to migrant workers who have just returned from abroad and are bringing goods. “They don’t bring these goods for industry but for their families because they are going home, so it’s a tradition that they bring as souvenirs, so the first impact of this policy will definitely be friends of migrant workers,” said the woman who previously served as Chair of Migrant CARE’s Center for Migration Studies. to Media Indonesia, Tuesday (16/4).
Furthermore, Anis added that he himself received many complaints from PMI regarding this policy.
“Because the goods they bring are nothing compared to the stamp they have to pay because of this policy. “So this policy really does leave problems, especially for fellow migrant workers who have just returned from abroad,” stressed Anis.
Separately, the Director of Migrant Care, Wahyu Susilo, said that Minister of Trade Regulation 36/2023 must be revoked because it will have a negative impact on PMI.
“I think the revocation of this Minister of Trade Regulation should be done because it has discriminatory dimensions against migrant workers. “I think this should not be repeated,” said Wahyu.
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Minister of Trade Regulation 36/2023 does not apply to PMI
Meanwhile, Head of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) Benny Rhamdani confirmed that Minister of Trade Regulation 36/2023 does not apply to PMI.
According to him, a limited meeting was held today to discuss the implementation of Minister of Trade Regulation 36/2023, one of which concerns PMI property, led by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.
“The meeting decided and this was conveyed directly by the Minister of Trade, that Minister of Trade Regulation 36 of 2023 concerning Import Policies and Regulations was declared revoked and related import policy regulations were returned to Minister of Trade Regulation Number 25. So, secondly, restrictions on the types and goods belonging to PMI no longer apply ,” said Benny.
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Thus, he continued, the regulations that previously regulated restrictions on goods sent by Indonesian workers from placement countries are now back in effect to the previous regulations.
So the rule that applies is the provision that goods owned by PMI are exempt from import duty of USD 1,500, based on Minister of Trade Regulation Number 25 of 2022 concerning Amendments to Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 20 of 2021 concerning Import Policies and Regulations.
“In this regulation, PMI or migrant workers’ goods are given a tax relaxation of USD 1,500 in one year. This can be divided into three deliveries or one delivery or two deliveries,” he said.
Apart from that, excess shipments of goods belonging to PMI from the existing provisions will not be returned to the country of delivery or destroyed, but will be included in the general category.
“Of course, as an advantage of tax relaxation, he has to pay import duties. So PMI no longer have to be returned to the country they work in, let alone destroyed,” concluded Benny. (Dec/Z-7)
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