Jakarta (Joint Press Release) – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today held an inter-ministerial and agencies meeting to develop a roadmap for One International Migration Data or SDMI initiative in Jakarta. This meeting was opened by the Director for Population and Manpower Statistics, Ali Said and attended by around 100 participants coming from various ministries and government agencies, local governments, UN organizations, and non-governmental organizations related to migration. The meeting is part of the collaboration between IOM and BPS to facilitate the progress towards executing the SDMI initiative.

Initiated by BPS in 2019, the development of SDMI aims to support the formulation and implementation of migration policies and programmes that are more targeted, so it can increase the positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts of migration. The SDMI is also expected to contribute to measuring Indonesia's achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), as well as strengthening the protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI), in accordance with the Law No. 18 of 2017. Furthermore, the SDMI will also contribute to the achievement of the current Government of Indonesia’s Medium Term National Development Plan as well as to the development of the next longer-term and medium-term national development plan, which will be renewed in 2025.

“I believe with strong cooperation between Ministries/Agencies, we can produce a solid and comprehensive framework to achieving One Data Indonesia, of which this One Data on International Migration is a part of it. SDMI should be the reference in developing policies and programmes related to international migration,” said Ali Said, Director for Population and Manpower Statistics, BPS, during his opening remark.

IOM, the United Nations (UN) agency for migration affairs, has supported countries around the world to improve the management of migration data as stated in the IOM's Global Strategy on Migration Data. Joshua Hart, Senior Programme Coordinator of IOM Indonesia conveyed IOM’s support to the Government of Indonesia in implementing data and evidence-based migration policies. “We should understand that data is “more than just numbers”. Data plays an essential role to improve the life of migrants. Data can be used to identify challenges, design responses, oversee the policy implementation, and evaluate the impact of migration policies," said Joshua.

Aside from being one of the highest migrant worker-sending countries in Asia, Indonesia is also a destination country for migrants. Every year, around 150,000 – 250,000 Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) migrate abroad for work. Meanwhile, there are around 100,000-200,000 foreign workers currently working in Indonesia and approximately 13,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia waiting for a long-term solution to the situation they face. At the global level, Indonesia is one of the 33 leading countries (Champion Country) for the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) which was adopted in 2018 by 163 countries in the world, where one of the objectives of the GCM is to improve migration policies based on data and evidence.

The SDMI Roadmap which will be developed in the next few months is expected to further support the Government of Indonesia in identifying strategies, priorities, challenges, and needs to design, implement, and monitor the operationalization of SDMI. The roadmap development will include literature review of good practices from other countries, interviews, workshops, and focus group discussions with various relevant ministries and institutions at the national and regional levels.

This meeting is conducted by IOM through the Asia Regional Migration Programme which is being implemented in 12 countries, including Indonesia, with support from the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States Department of State. The programme aims to increase the capability of the governments in the Asian Region in managing sustainable and humane migration.

For further information, please contact:

Pya Ayunindya

National Project Officer, Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion (LMI)

sayunindya@iom.int