Reconstruction of Recruitment Fee Regulations to Prevent Debt Bondage and Forced Labor Against Indonesian Migrant Workers

Abstract

The imposition of placement fees on Indonesian Migrant Workers may create debt before employment and increase the risk of forced labor, particularly when such fees are transferred through cooperation agreements, financing facilities, loans, or wage deductions. This study aims to analyze the weaknesses of Article 3 of the Regulation of the Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers/Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency Number 17 of 2025 in preventing debt bondage and forced labor, as well as to formulate a reconstruction of placement fee allocation based on the Employer Pays Principle. This study applies a normative legal research method using statutory and conceptual approaches. Legal materials are analyzed qualitatively through grammatical, systematic, and teleological interpretation. The findings show that Article 3 provides exceptions that allow placement fees to be transferred to workers based on the law of the destination country, international law, inter-state agreements, or cooperation agreements. This provision weakens the prohibition on the imposition of placement fees as regulated in Article 30 of Law Number 18 of 2017. The reconstruction is directed toward affirming that all placement fees and recruitment-related costs shall be the responsibility of employers or recruiters, including the prohibition of fee transfer through debt-based financing and salary deductions.