Indonesian government dismisses hoax announcement on cash aid for migrant workers

Published on December 6, 2024 at 10:39
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

Indonesians working overseas contribute to the country's economy by sending billions of dollars home every year, but a video that appears to show a former head of the Migrant Workers Protection Ministry (BP2MI) announcing financial aid for them as a reward was in fact manipulated. The audio was altered to insert the announcement, and the ministry's current head has told AFP the government did not have such a plan.

"With this, the government distributes assistance for migrant workers through BP2MI for 2024," read the Indonesian-language caption of a Facebook post on November 4, 2024.

The video in the post shows former BP2MI chief Benny Rhamdani announcing aid for Indonesian migrant workers.

"Indonesian migrant workers deserve to get cash aid from the government of 1.5 billion rupiahs ($94,500) per 20 migrant workers because they are the country's largest foreign exchange contributor," Benny appears to say in the video, which has been viewed more than 21,000 times.

Screenshot of the false post, captured on December 4, 2024

The video has also been shared with the false claim on Facebook here, here, and here, racking up more than 134,000 views.

There are approximately five million Indonesians who work overseas in some 100 countries, with millions more working illegally, according to Abdul Kadir Karding, the new minister of BP2MI (archived link).

Under the administration of newly-inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto, BP2MI has been upgraded from an agency to a ministry (archived link).

Figures from the Indonesian Bank show these workers sent 14.22 billion dollars back to the country in 2023, making them the second-biggest contributor to its foreign exchange reserves after the sale of oil and gas (archived link).

But the video is old and has been altered to falsely show the previous BP2MI head announcing billions of rupiahs in aid.

Manipulated audio

A Google reverse image search found a longer version of the video from BP2MI's official YouTube channel uploaded on January 8, 2021 (archived link).

The video is titled "Know more about the Indonesian Migrant Workers Body | BP2MI profile" and explains the history and duties of BP2MI.

The false video was taken starting from the 4:48 mark.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the original video from BP2MI's official YouTube channel (right):

Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the original video from BP2MI's official YouTube channel (right)

Benny can be seen saying in the original video: "The Indonesian migrant workers are worthy of a VVIP service because they are foreign exchange heroes worthy of respect from the country."

He did not mention cash aid for migrant workers in the video.

BP2MI's minister Abdul Kadir Karding also told AFP on December 4 that they "did not have a policy to give cash aid, especially in a big amount, to the migrant workers" and called the claim a hoax.

The ministry has also refuted in its official website the claim that they announced billions of rupiah in aid, saying that they "have never planned to give away cash as mentioned" (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to government aid here and here.

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