The head of Indonesia's Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers says he is “disappointed” that Taiwan is extending a ban on Indonesian migrant workers entering the country indefinitely.
In the past month, Taiwan has seen a surge in imported COVID-19 cases among Indonesian nationals coming to Taiwan for work. Many of the confirmed cases presented negative COVID-19 tests upon arrival in Taiwan, leading health authorities to suspect that there is an issue with testing mechanisms in Indonesia.
The Taiwanese government initially banned Indonesian migrant workers from entering the country on December 4. The plan at first was to keep the ban in place until December 17. However, the ban has since been extended without a set end date.
Indonesian authorities apologized for the confirmed cases, but said that the issue could have stemmed from review protocols at Indonesian labor brokerage firms. Indonesian officials said that they would thoroughly audit relevant companies and their procedures.
The head of Indonesia's Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, Benny Rhamdani, says that the Indonesian government is still looking into vetting protocols at its labor brokerage firms. Rhamdani says that Taiwan didn’t wait for the results of the investigation before making its ban on entry by Indonesian migrant workers indefinite. He urged the Taiwanese government to reconsider its choice.