Indonesia will send 100 trained nurses to Taiwan at the start of next year to provide professional home care to patients, an Indonesian national daily newspaper reported Saturday.
The initiative will be carried out under a cooperation agreement signed on Oct. 12 between the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and an undisclosed human resources agency based in Taiwan, according to the Indonesian paper Republika.
Under the agreement, 100 trained nurses from Indonesia will arrive in Taiwan in early 2018 to work in the homes of patients who need such care, the paper said, citing Ricky Adriansjah, head of the Tangerang office of the national agency.
The nurses will be required to have a bachelor's degree and at least three months Mandarin language training, Adriansjah said in the report, noting that Indonesia will be sending medical professionals to work in Taiwan for the first time.
Like most other migrant workers in Taiwan, the nurses will sign a three-year contract, he said.
Agusdin Subiantoro, deputy head of the agency, was cited in the report as saying that Indonesia was aiming to send migrant workers of a higher quality to Taiwan.
The nurses will serve in situations where professional home care is required, he said, noting that currently Indonesian caregivers with no professional nursing skills are filling such positions.
The reports did not specify how much the trained Indonesian nurses will be paid, but cited Subiantoro as saying that Taiwan should increase the minimum wages of Indonesian migrant caregivers by at least 10 percent, which would put their minimum monthly salary at NT$19,000 (US$630).
This would help close the gap between the wages of domestic caregivers and factory workers, said Subiantoro, who has been a strong advocate of the rights of Indonesian migrant workers.
Currently, Indonesian domestic caregivers in Taiwan earn a minimum NT$17,000 per month, while migrant factory workers are paid around NT$21,009, which is in line with Taiwan's monthly minimum wage of NT$20,008.
SOURCE: Focus Taiwan
