As the culmination of a series of Action Project activities with women migrant workers, Komunitas Bernafas Baik, in collaboration with Balla’ta Migran held the Consolidation of Women Migrant Workers on Saturday, 27 September 2025, at Kebun Literasi Komunitas (Literacy Community Garden), conducted by Rumah Nalar in Bulukumba Regency. The event marked an important moment to strengthen support networks, women’s grassroots leadership, and protection for women migrant workers and their families.
This activity is part of the Balla’ta Migran initiative, a community-based Safe Learning Space that has grown out of the lived experiences of women migrant workers and their families. Prior to this culminating event, Balla’ta Migran had conducted a series of trainings designed to strengthen community capacity and solidarity, including a Rights Awareness and Legal Literacy Training involving plantation workers’ unions in Sabah, Malaysia; an Organizing Training focusing on public speaking and women’s leadership; and an Economic Empowerment Training in collaboration with the Department of Cooperatives and MSMEs of Bulukumba Regency.
These trainings not only equipped women with practical skills but also strengthened their positions as community leaders and agents of social change at the local level. Through a cross-border approach, Balla’ta Migran has successfully bridged experiences and learning between women migrant worker communities who are still in Malaysia and their home communities in Bulukumba.
One of the key issues highlighted in this event was the lack of reliable data on undocumented Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia. To this day, at the village, district, provincial, and even national levels, the government does not yet have an accurate database on the number and condition of these workers. Yet, valid data is essential as the foundation for developing protection policies, legal assistance, and access to social and economic services for migrant workers and their families, including returnees. Without clear data, protection efforts tend to be reactive and often fail to reach the most vulnerable groups.
According to data from BP3MI (Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency) in South Sulawesi Province, only about 50 migrant workers from Bulukumba Regency are registered in the official system. However, community mapping conducted by Balla’ta Migran revealed a starkly different reality: in just one village, there are more than 259 migrant workers and their families still living and working in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia mostly in palm oil plantations without proper documentation.
This discrepancy illustrates how many migrant workers remain outside the state’s protection system. BP3MI itself acknowledges that the number of officially dispatched workers is far lower than those repatriated or deported. Each year, thousands of migrant workers from South Sulawesi are deported from Malaysia showing that undocumented migration is not an isolated issue but a structural phenomenon that demands serious government attention at all levels.
These findings underscore the critical role of community-based initiatives in complementing and strengthening government data systems, ensuring that protection policies are grounded in the realities of the field.
The consolidation event gathered around 200 participants, including key stakeholders such as the Regent of Bulukumba, the Head of BP3MI South Sulawesi, the Head of Makassar Immigration Office, academics from Hasanuddin University, as well as representatives from civil society organizations (BaKTI) and local communities of migrant workers and their families across various villages in Bulukumba. The presence of these diverse actors marked an important step toward synergy between grassroots communities and government institutions in advancing inclusive and gender-just migration policies.
During the Public Dialogue Session, one of the returning women migrant workers shared a moving reflection:
“After coming home, we continue to struggle just to meet our daily needs. We work at home, in the fields, or in the gardens whenever we can. What needs to be thought about together is how every stage of labor migration from recruitment, departure, and placement abroad to return can be guaranteed by the state. We are more than the slogan of ‘foreign exchange heroes.’ We don’t need that title; what we need is respect, protection, and fulfillment of our rights.”
She also delivered three main recommendations to the government:
- To the Regent of Bulukumba: Encourage comprehensive protection and empowerment down to the village level through local policies aligned with the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Law.
- To BP3MI: Strengthen inclusive services and protection, especially for women migrant workers in rural areas.
- To the Immigration Office: Simplify the passport application process. “No one wants to work illegally without protection. We just need guidance, not obstacles,” she emphasized.
In addition to the dialogue, the event also featured the launch of the book/zine “From Bulukumba to Malaysia: Stories of Women Migrant Workers Who Endure, Struggle, and Speak Up,” free health checkups, and creative competitions reflecting the solidarity and resilience of women.
Through this event, Balla’ta Migran and Komunitas Bernafas Baik reaffirmed their commitment to promoting sustainable, community-based action. It is hoped that the synergy built among communities, government, and the broader public will strengthen protection systems and open more space for women migrant workers to be empowered socially, economically, and politically.