Activists urge more support for female migrant workers<\/p>\n
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Rights and labor activists urged the government and the public at
\nlarge on Wednesday to pay more attention to the plight of female
\nmigrant workers, including five housemaids currently facing
\npossible death sentences in neighboring Singapore.<\/p>\n
"We must defend our female migrant workers. They contribute a
\nlot of earnings to the state, so the state should protect them,"
\nsaid Yanti Mochtar of the National Commission on Violence Against
\nWomen (Komnas Perempuan) in a discussion in conjunction with
\nKartini Day on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Kartini Day, which falls on April 21, is the birthday of
\nnational heroine R.A. Kartini, who quietly fought for gender
\nequality in the 19th century.<\/p>\n
Yanti regretted the poor service from the government, mainly
\nthe Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the Ministry of
\nForeign Affairs, to Indonesian migrant workers.<\/p>\n
Government officials should realize that they were paid by the
\nstate budget, which includes foreign debt, taxes and income from
\nmigrant worker remittances, Yanti said.<\/p>\n
"Not only are there legal problems; migrant workers, mostly
\nwomen, also experience sexual abuse. So far, the government has
\npaid little attention to Indonesian workers overseas," she said.<\/p>\n
More than half of around 1.3 million Indonesian migrant
\nworkers overseas, including in Singapore, are women, who often
\nsuffer abuse by their employers and extortion by Indonesian
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The five Indonesian workers currently facing possible death
\nsentences in Singapore are identified as Sudarti Supriyanto,
\nPurwanti Parji, Sumiyati Karyo, Juminem and Siti Aminah. They
\nhave been charged with murder, with the maximum sentence of
\ndeath.<\/p>\n
Migrant worker Nining, who has worked as a housemaid in
\nSingapore for seven years, claimed on Wednesday that Indonesian
\nmigrant workers had more adverse experiences than housemaids from
\nother countries, such as the Philippines, due to poor skills and
\nlack of attention from the government.<\/p>\n
"Most of us do not read our contracts, so our employers can
\nask us to do whatever they want," said Nining, who is also an
\nactivist of Indo Family, a non-governmental organization in
\nSingapore that helps Indonesian migrant workers.<\/p>\n
She revealed that 98 female workers had died after falling
\nfrom windows of their employers' apartments since 1999 although
\ncleaning the windows -- as ordered by their employers -- was not
\nallowed under the regulation.<\/p>\n
About 70 percent of 1.3 million Indonesian migrant workers are
\nwomen, mostly working in Middle Eastern countries, Singapore,
\nMalaysia and Hong Kong as housemaids.<\/p>\n
Most of the female migrant workers are underage and have fake
\nidentity documentation in order to go to work. Most become the
\nonly breadwinner for their poor families back home.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wahyu Susilo, chairman of Migrant Care, urged the
\nSingapore government to lighten their sentences if they were
\nfound guilty, due to adverse experiences suffered by the workers
\nat the hands of their employers.<\/p>\n
"The Singapore government must take into account the
\ncircumstances, including physical abuse, before the crime
\noccurred. They do not deserve the death sentence," Wahyu said in
\nthe discussion.<\/p>\n
Syahwin Adenan, Director for Citizen Protection of the
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that the government has
\nprovided lawyers for the five migrant workers, saying it could
\nnot interfere in the legal process.<\/p>",
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