JAKARTA - Indonesia’s migrant worker protection office in North Sumatra registered 21 Indonesian migrant workers returned from Malaysia at Kualanamu Airport on April 29, after they were held at Belantik Immigration Detention Depot in Kedah, the Migrant Worker Protection Ministry said in a release published on May 4. 

The ministry said the workers had been caught in Malaysian immigration raids, served prison sentences, and were then deported to Indonesia. Their return was arranged after a letter from Indonesia’s Consulate General in Penang concerning 21 people travelling to Medan from the detention depot.

They arrived from Penang on Batik Air flight OD 326 at 9:20 p.m. Western Indonesia Time and were taken to the North Sumatra migrant worker protection helpdesk for registration. After the data collection process, the workers returned home independently.

The ministry listed 10 people from North Sumatra, three from West Nusa Tenggara, two from East Java, two from Aceh, and one each from Bali, Lampung, and Jambi. The published breakdown accounts for 20 people, while the release states that 21 workers arrived.

The Kualanamu case adds to Indonesia’s continuing return flow from Malaysia. In February, the ministry said 56,000 workers had been assisted home after deportation from January 2023 to December 2025, and warned that 50,000 Indonesian citizens could be deported in 2026.

Hartono, a junior expert employment officer at the North Sumatra office, said official placement gives workers state protection. “Working abroad officially will provide full protection from the state,” he said. 

“This is proof that the state is present in helping and protecting citizens facing problems so they can return and meet their families,” he added.

Malaysia is also one of Indonesia’s main legal labour destinations, which makes the deportation route a protection issue rather than only an immigration case. The Migrant Worker Protection Ministry said Indonesia placed 296,948 migrant workers abroad in 2025, exceeding the national target, with Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan listed as the five largest destination countries.