With the public still seething over the alleged torture of Sumiati, an Indonesian maid working in Saudi Arabia, reports on Friday that another Indonesian maid had been murdered in the Gulf state prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to call for a full review into conditions for Indonesians working abroad.
The president described the reported murder of the maid, identified as Kikim Komalasari, from Cianjur, West Java, as “beyond inhumane.”
“We need to review all cooperation agreements with other countries, mainly with Saudi Arabia,” Yudhoyono said before an emergency cabinet meeting called to discuss the issue. “Steps must be taken.”
Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said Kikim, 36, who had been working in the city of Abha since June 2009, had died from injuries caused by physical abuse.
Sumiati has been hospitalized in Medina since Nov. 8 after suffering severe cuts to her lips, believed to have been made with scissors, as well as internal injuries from repeated beatings.
With that issue still running hot, Muhaimin on Friday confirmed Kikim’s body had been found on Thursday in a dumpster in Abha, about 600 kilometers south of Jeddah.
The death could not have come at a worse time for relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. As commentators were railing against the Sumiati incident, the Saudi ambassador to Indonesia was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a small but vocal group of protesters gathered outside its embassy.
The cases highlight growing public awareness of the hardships faced by about 3.2 million migrant workers, more than a third of whom work in the Middle East. Activists have long complained that Indonesia lags behind other labor exporters when it comes to protecting its workers.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said Saudi Arabia did not have a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia regarding migrant workers. “We will try to convince them that this is needed,” he said.
Problems encountered by migrant workers in Malaysia and Jordan have led to frequent moratoriums on sending workers to those countries, but they are frequently violated.
Yudhoyono said an agreement with Saudi Arabia would be a prerequisite for sending more workers there.
He also complained that reports of maltreatment often came too late, as had happened in the two latest cases.
“We’re planning to give cellphones to all migrant workers,” he said. “That way, at least, we can communicate instantly.”
Muhaimin said a moratorium on sending workers to Saudi Arabia might be necessary in light of the recent abuse cases. “To stop sending migrant workers is one effective way to eradicate abuse, but we have not reached a final decision,” he said.
Indonesian consular officials in Saudi Arabia, he added, are currently gathering information on both Kikim and Sumiati’s cases.
Suhartono, a Labor Ministry spokesman, said a team was also being sent to Cianjur to meet with Kikim’s family, and that the labor supply company that had sent Kikim to Saudi Arabia had adequate insurance to cover compensation.
The minister for women’s empowerment, Linda Amalia Sari, also left for Saudi Arabia on Friday to discuss the abuse cases with Saudi authorities.
“We intend to make a bilateral agreement regarding the protection of migrant workers with the Saudi Arabian government,” she said before leaving. “But we also need to fix the problems in our own country, since 80 percent of the root of the problem is here.”
She said illegal migration and inadequate training before departure contributed to the plight of migrant workers.
No comments:
Post a Comment