Abused migrant workers get treatment<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman and Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Tangerang<\/p>\n
A number of migrant workers who came home from Middle Eastern
\ncountries on Friday are now being treated at a hospital for
\nserious injuries and depression allegedly the result of harsh
\ntreatment by their former employers, an activist said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
An activist with the Consortium for Migrant Workers Protection
\n(Kopbumi), who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, said
\nsix workers were immediately brought to the police Sukanto
\nHospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, upon arrival at the
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\"But one who was suffering from depression was forcibly
\nremoved from the hospital by employees of recruitment agency PT
\nAsami Ananda Mandiri,\" the activist told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Four others sustained severe bruises and concussion, while the
\nlast one is under intensive care for symptoms of manic
\ndepression, the activist said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the six admitted to reporters at the airport that
\nthey had to return home after working for several months in Saudi
\nArabia and Jordan because they could no longer cope with the
\nconstant violence inflicted by their employers, including sexual
\nharassment.<\/p>\n
Lili Kholifah, who had worked for nine months in Jeddah, said
\nshe fled her male employer Mohammad Aloyseroi without bothering
\nto get her salary \"because my employer had repeatedly attempted
\nto rape me\".<\/p>\n
Panji Krisnowo, a manpower agency staffer assigned at the
\nairport's Terminal III specially assigned for migrant workers,
\nsaid that on Friday alone 236 Indonesian workers arrived home
\nfrom various countries. Most of them returned as their contracts
\nhad ended, he said.<\/p>\n
There is no explanation as to why the migrant workers were
\ntaken to the police hospital under tight security after leaving
\nthe airport.<\/p>\n
Noted sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo, who is also chairman of
\nYayasan Nurani Dunia (World Conscience Foundation), said that the
\nplight of migrant workers was due to the government's negligence.<\/p>\n
He said the government had no comprehensive policies regarding
\nits overseas workers.<\/p>\n
\"In the very early stage, there are no policies regulating the
\nrecruitment of the workers therefore they will easily fall prey
\nto greedy agencies,\" he said, adding that most of the workers
\nwere not given proper training prior to their departure.<\/p>\n
In the receiving countries, lack of training and the language
\nbarrier added to the workers' woes.<\/p>\n
\"Employers expect that the workers they hired are properly
\nskilled, when in fact they are women from remote villages in
\nIndonesia without even basic knowledge of how to turn on
\nelectronics appliances. To make matters worse, their inability to
\nspeak the local language is the main source of misunderstanding
\nthat easily ends up in physical abuse at the hands of their
\nemployer,\" he told the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/abused-migrant-workers-get-treatment-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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