The ILO through its 8.7 Accelerator Lab programme has supported Indonesia to improve working conditions of fishers and prevent forced labour through the establishment of joint labour inspection system and strengthened coordination between labour and fisheries inspectors.

The fishing sector is one of the most important sectors for Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the largest countries of origin of fishers, one of the largest fish producers and one of the most fish-dependent nations in the world. Producing over 7 million tons of fish every year, 2.1 million workers are employed in wild capture fisheries alone.

The Indonesian government has been implementing several reforms to improve working conditions of fishers and prevent forced labour. Reforms include establishing joint labour inspection systems, and strengthening coordination between labour and fisheries inspectors, as well as with the Ministry of Transport.

To support the reforms and to provide better protection for Indonesian local and migrant fishers against forced labour at sea, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is supporting the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) and Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) to conduct a pilot joint labour inspection to Indonesian fishing vessels today (5/7) at the Oceanic Fishing Port of Belawan, Medan, North Sumatra.

The Oceanic Fishing Port of Belawan is known as Indonesia’s busiest seaport outside Java and ranked at the third biggest port in the country. The Port of Belawan is also the main seaport transportation gateway of import and export of various industrial products for Sumatra Island.

The joint labour inspection is conducted as follow-up to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MoM and MMAF which includes joint labour inspection efforts applying the Field Guide for Carrying out Labour Inspection Visits On-board Fishing Vessels. The Guide has been developed by the Ministry of Manpower, with inputs from relevant social partners and support from the ILO, as a practical guide for the joint inspection efforts.

The Guide provides guidance on inspecting the working condition on board fishing vessels, and tools for detection of forced labour on board fishing vessels. The eradication and detection of forced labour in the fishing industry is important as the 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery revealed that an approximately 128,000 fishers are trapped in forced labour aboard fishing vessels in the high seas globally.

Often working on the high seas, the fishers are vulnerable to being trapped in a workplace characterised by extreme isolation, hazardousness, and gaps in regulatory oversight. Although no region of the world is spared from the scourge of forced labour, Asia and the Pacific have the highest number of people in forced labour.

Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director of the ILO for Indonesia, stated that the labour inspection field guide is an important step in ensuring more effective and coordinated labour inspections on board fishing vessels. “It needs to be complemented by other efforts at the legal and policy level to ensure that those enforcement efforts have a clear legal basis. The ILO is committed to support Indonesian government and its social partners in the implementation and dissemination of the field guide in all the fishing ports of Indonesia,” she said.

The joint labour inspection is led by MoM, involving 12 labour inspectors from national and provincial levels. During the pilot labour inspection, these inspectors interviewed both skippers and fishers of four fishing vessels. They also examine the working and living conditions of the fishers on board fishing vessels, as well as facilities provided and occupational safety and health (OSH) gear. The results of today’s pilot labour inspection would be used to finalize the Field Guide for Carrying out Labour Inspection Visits On-board Fishing Vessels.

“Based on the MoU and the results of a series of pilot labour inspections that have been conducted since last year, the Ministry of Manpower, with support from the ILO, will legalize the implementation of the Field Guide in the form of Manpower Ministerial Decree so that the Field Guide can be formally used by the labour inspectors to ensure labour rights of fishers and provide better protection for fishers from forced labour at sea,” stated Muhamad Nour, National Coordinator of the ILO’s 8.7 Accelerator Lab Programme in Indonesia.

Previously, the pilot joint labour inspection had been conducted in Benoa Fishing Port of Bali and Nizam Zahman Oceanic Port of Jakarta. The next plan is to conduct the inspection activity at Probolinggo Fishing Port in East Java, located on one of the major highways across Java with a harbour that is heavily used by fishing vessels.

The ILO’s support is given through its 8.7 Accelerator Lab programme , created to accelerate progress towards the eradication of forced labour and the elimination of child labour. Target countries which have been selected to implement Multi Partner Fund’s interventions in the fisheries sector are Indonesia, South Africa and Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the mining sector.