SEAFOOD TASK FORCE HOLDS INDONESIA SUMMIT ON PROTECTING MIGRANT TUNA FISHERS

Seafood Task Force holds Indonesia Summit on protecting migrant tuna fishers. The Seafood Task Force (STF) has held a four-day summit in Indonesia to discuss how to protect migrant fishers working on distant-water tuna vessels.

More than 50,000 Indonesians have left their homes to work on distant water vessels and they comprise 62% of all foreign migrant fishers in Taiwan, often enduring hardship. Whilst legislation to protect Indonesian migrant workers was enacted through Law No. 18 for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers in 2017, the implementation of this law has yet to come into force. The law is still being amended in Parliament with the end goal of enhancing worker and migrant welfare governance in Indonesia.

The summit, co-hosted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), brought together representatives from multiple actors in the tuna supply chain. Participants included unions, recruitment agencies, associations and government officials joining to better understand the complexities of the issue and to consider practical solutions. Seven ministries and government bodies, at central and provincial level, were in attendance.

The STF, which represents more than 50 commercial members, has worked extensively with stakeholders across migration corridors into Thailand to identify the gaps and has developed standards related to ethical recruitment reflected in the STF Social Code of Conduct to support employment agencies to raise standards towards certification.

The summit, which took place at the end of April, was a significant milestone, marking the first official engagement with stakeholders in Indonesia, and as a continuation of the study of the post-covid recruitment landscape for Indonesian workers on Taiwanese distant-water vessels.

The summit provided an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from migrant workers, including their access to grievance mechanisms and the challenges that migrant fishers continue to encounter when making complaints. Delegates visited Pemalang, in Central Java, which sends around 3,000 Indonesian migrant fishers a year to various destinations in East Asia, to learn more about their experiences of recruitment and training. Most of the migrant fishers stated that one of their most pressing challenges is the lack of transparency around additional costs related to recruitment fees.

Supavadee Chotikajan, Co-Chair of the Seafood Task Force, explained:

“Our goal is to foster a collaborative platform for us to come together to make realistic improvements and to drive positive change. We do not come with pre-set solutions, but rather we are here to listen and understand challenges so that we take back these insights to shape our workplan on responsible recruitment and on future pilot projects to represent workers’ voices”.

Summit discussions focused on current efforts being made to promote responsible recruitment and the challenges of implementing local regulations whilst adhering to international standards. As part of the event, meetings were held with representatives of the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which now takes over all responsibility for migrant workers on distant-water vessels alongside other ministries and government bodies.

Martin Thurley,Executive Director of the Seafood Task Force, added:  

 “Essentially, this was a listening exercise allowing us to understand the obstacles to reform and to think about how we can support practical changes through continuous improvement programmes for recruitment agencies. We need to create behaviour change on the ground and this will include educating them about regulatory compliance and educating vessel crews about their legal status and worker rights.

Jeffrey Labovitz, Chief of Mission of IOM Indonesia said:

“Our objective is clear and that is to illuminate both the gaps in the current system and the promising opportunities for developing transparent, robust, and ethical recruitment practices of Indonesian migrant fishers.”

Yayan Hernuryadin, Director of the Placement of Migrant Commercial Vessel Crew and Migrant Fishing Vessel Crew at the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, confirmed that the highest placement of Indonesian migrant fishers was to Taiwan with almost 2,000 last year. He said that conducting an evaluation of the current policy framework was urgent to address challenges – specifically through strengthening regulation, multi-sector collaboration and monitoring.

The STF looks forward to working with all stakeholders, including the government, to achieve tangible improvements over the coming months. The inputs and learnings gathered will be used to formulate action plans for the next 12 months.