Indonesian youth are increasingly interested in working abroad. At a productive age, the desire to obtain high-paying jobs has captivated Indonesia’s younger generation. The hashtag #kaburajadulu (“just escape first”) strengthens the argument that young people see going overseas as the solution for a better life. Moreover, social validation is also sought by the youth, as they can show off their presence abroad on social media. According to Jobstreet Decoding Global Talent 2024, 67 percent of Indonesians expressed interest in working overseas. This figure has risen significantly since the pandemic, although it is still not as high as before the COVID-19 outbreak, when it reached 81 percent.
However, Kompas in its Editorial on January 3, 2024, sounded the alarm once more regarding the protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI). At a time when opportunities and interest in working abroad are growing, the protection of migrant workers remains a crucial issue. Protecting Indonesian migrant workers is imperative, especially in the face of new schemes for labor deployment that involve elements of human trafficking (TPPO).
Take the deployment of PMIs through internship programs to Japan as an example. In late December 2024, a PMI intern working in Hokkaido, Japan, returned home in a coffin after a workplace accident. In early January 2025, also in Hokkaido, another PMI intern was found dead due to suicide. Japan has become a popular destination for PMIs. The problem is that many opportunities are offered in the form of internships. Numerous cases have occurred among interns in Japan—physical and verbal abuse, long working hours, and wages that do not match agreements. Worse, the deployment of interns from Indonesia to Japan has been linked to human trafficking.
In the past five years, the presence of PMI interns in Japan has sparked pro and contra debates. In mid-2023, several interns from Payakumbuh, West Sumatra were revealed to have been forced to work 14 hours a day with no days off and only 15 minutes of meal breaks. Two polytechnic directors who sent these students were named suspects in a human trafficking case. This practice is suspected to have occurred since 2012 at the same institution.
Concerns about the misuse of intern labor have actually been discussed by the Japanese government. They are working to revise the controversial foreign trainee system implemented since 1993 (NHK, 2023). In March 2024, the government drafted a new bill called Ikusei Shuro or “nurturing employment.” Labor observers in Japan believe the new regulation provides more room for foreign workers. However, it still does not adequately address human rights issues faced by foreign workers, especially interns.
We also have not forgotten the tragedy involving dozens of Indonesian interns who became victims of trafficking in Europe. In Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Germany, interns have faced serious issues. In Germany, problems with interns have even drawn public concern. Dozens reported exploitative and inhumane working conditions. The exploitation of interns has undeniably become a new issue in discussions about contemporary Indonesian migrant workers.
A New Phase for Migrant Workers
Indonesia is experiencing a new phase of young workers. Curious about life abroad, the youth should be equipped with the ability to recognize and assess risks, and understand the aspects of life and regulations awaiting them. Lacking such understanding can have serious consequences and may lead to trauma—or even cost their lives. Promises of easy jobs and high salaries spread through social media have successfully drawn the interest of many young Indonesians.
Prospective PMIs with good digital access do not automatically develop awareness, caution, or proper literacy regarding overseas employment. This adds to the long list of existing issues in PMI protection discourse, including agency fees, non-procedural PMIs, wage deductions for placement fees, remittances, and abuse. Now, with the rise of young digital users, new problems emerge: illegal recruitment through social media, fraud, extortion, confinement, identity forgery, and trafficking.
Digital technology has opened access to job information abroad—but it has also become a tool to manipulate information, deceive prospective migrant workers, and exploit young people’s naivety and desire for social validation.
The Crucial Role of the New Ministry
Appreciation must be given to the current administration for establishing a Ministry for PMI Protection. This ministry has a specific responsibility to protect migrant workers—not merely handle the technicalities of deployment or agency roles. It must prioritize genuine protection for PMIs: understanding their human rights as workers, the difficulties they face abroad, and monitoring the recruitment process, pre-departure preparation, repatriation, and conditions after returning home. The new minister’s authority must be utilized for more tangible protection efforts.
To respond to this new PMI phase, the ministry must understand the characteristics of young digital-native workers. Strategies are needed to raise awareness among prospective young PMIs about the importance of understanding job fields, physical and cultural migration processes, and the challenges of living abroad.
Update the Regulations
Regulations must be practically and contextually applicable. Therefore, ministerial regulations on PMI protection must be created and updated in response to technological developments and known trafficking schemes. The younger generation’s reliance on social media for information requires well-crafted content to counter misinformation and disinformation.
At the same time, coordination with related ministries—Foreign Affairs, Law and Human Rights, Communications and Digital Affairs (Kominfo), Manpower, and others—is essential to sharpen the focus on digital literacy and human-rights–centered protection for Indonesian migrant workers. Establishing joint cross-ministerial regulations is crucial to anticipate the rising interest of Indonesian youth in working abroad, driven largely by the enticing—but often deceptive—offers they encounter on digital platforms.
