21,000 workers duped by insurers.

(From The Jakarta Post)

JAKARTA: A labor observer warned the government of an emerging crisis from after some sort of tacit permission was granted to three unauthorized private companies to run an insurance scheme for workers employed overseas.

So far, the three companies have collected Rp 3.4 billion (US$400,000) from at least 21,000 workers who paid Rp 160,000 each in premiums.

"The three companies are not included on the list of five companies authorized by the Finance Ministry to run the insurance plan for Indonesian workers overseas," Luthfi A. Hamdoen, also a labor activist, said here on Thursday.

He chose not to identify the three …