Poverty forces NTB people to work overseas<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
This is the first of a series of articles on Nusa Tenggara Barat
\nvillagers employed overseas. Following the steady stream of
\nworkers returning home with stories of the abuses that they
\nsuffered abroad, our reporter Ridwan Sijabat visited the province
\nlast month and talked with some of the villagers about their
\nexperiences.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian word \"jago\" means champion. In a sense the village
\nof Jago here in Mataram and other villages in the vicinity are
\nchampion labor exporters.<\/p>\n
West Nusa Tenggara will send 350,000 people abroad this year,
\nnetting the province Rp 230 billion (US$27 million) in foreign
\nexchange.<\/p>\n
Larauh, a mother of seven, is proud her five sons have been
\nable to find work overseas despite their low levels of education.
\nShe said she had Rp 40 million in the bank thanks to her sons,
\nwho have sent her money regularly over the last two years.<\/p>\n
Many of the workers from the province work on plantations or
\nconstruction sites in Malaysia, or as domestic helpers in the
\nMiddle East, especially Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\"From April to November, land owners abandon their farms
\nbecause of the dry season and the absence of irrigation. The
\nelderly stay home, the adults go to large cities looking for jobs
\nand the younger people, married or single, go to work overseas,\"
\nKomaruddin, who works in the Jago village office, told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Like other villagers who have relatives working abroad, Larauh
\nlives in a brick house. Owners of brick houses here almost always
\nhave relatives who work overseas. And like other villages in the
\nprovince, brick houses have sprouted up over the last six years,
\nmingling with the traditional huts of the villagers.<\/p>\n
Larauh's village in the hilly Praya district in Central Lombok
\nregency does not have asphalt roads, running water or telephone
\nlines. Motorists leave huge clouds of dust behind them as they
\ndrive along the village's narrow dirt roads in the dry season.
\nWater is scarce and the earth cracked from the heat.<\/p>\n
Villagers say they have no choice but go abroad to make money.
\nPoverty, unemployment, drought and lack of education all combine
\nto force residents here to leave their villages.<\/p>\n
\"Early marriages and a high divorce rate are two additional
\nreasons that encourage residents to work overseas,\" Komaruddin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said his eldest son, who works at an oil palm plantation in
\nPahang, Malaysia, had sent him 500 Malaysian ringgit every month
\nto help him survive the drought.<\/p>\n
Jago is just one of 22 impoverished villages whose residents
\nare dependent on overseas jobs. The others include Prapen,
\nBrantung, Praya, Tiwu Galih, Semayan, Gemel, Kenteng, Sasake,
\nBara Bali, Batujai, Nyerot, Batunyale, Montong, Bunkate, Leneng,
\nGerumung, Gonjak and Batu Tulis in Lombok and Sumbawa regencies.<\/p>\n
Villagers in West Nusa Tenggara began looking abroad in 1996.
\nNow the province is the country's biggest labor exporter,
\nfollowed by East Java, West Java, Central Java and East Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>\n
Most of West Nusa Tenggara's migrant workers converge in the
\nprovince capital of Mataram on their way overseas. Hundreds of
\nthem arrive at the intercity bus terminal and seaport daily. Many
\ngo to Riau on their way to Malaysia, or to Jakarta on their way
\nto the Middle East.<\/p>\n
They have helped increase the province's domestic product to
\nRp 14.1 trillion in 2001 from 11.5 trillion in 2000 and Rp 8.2
\ntrillion in 1999.<\/p>\n
Despite the money, working overseas has its downside. Physical
\nabuse, murder and rape sometimes occur to migrant workers. Other
\nworkers are extorted or robbed when they return home.<\/p>\n
Mariatun, 19, who returned from Brunei in September, said she
\nwas still traumatized by the mistreatment she suffered at the
\nhands of her female employer.<\/p>\n
According to data from the local manpower and transmigration
\noffice, 80 percent of more than 72,000 local workers who went
\noverseas in 2002 were elementary or junior high school graduates.<\/p>\n
\"If they were educated they would not have so many problems
\nand they would be paid more,\" said Komaruddin.<\/p>\n
Qomariah (not her real name) recently gave birth to a
\nchild that she says was the result of being raped by her Saudi
\nArabian employer.<\/p>\n
\"I was sent home after I became pregnant,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Fatalism and powerlessness are the two main reasons parents
\nare reluctant to file complaints against labor exporters with the
\nlocal authorities.<\/p>\n
The Panca Karsa Foundation, which helps migrant workers in the
\nprovince, recorded 321 cases of torture, extortion, rape, murder,
\nsexual harassment, occupational accidents and salary blockages in
\n2002, and 178 cases from January to October 2003.<\/p>\n
Since 1996, a total of 105 workers from the area have died
\noverseas, 648 were sent home without their pay, 43 were raped and
\n70 were extorted.<\/p>\n
Deputy Governor A.H. Thamrin Rayes agreed that labor exports
\nwere fueling the province's economy, and said the provincial
\nadministration was preparing a labor export bylaw to provide
\nlegal protection for workers.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the relatively small number of workers who experience
\nviolence, extortion and rape, such crimes must be stopped because
\nthey are against the law and human rights,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-forces-ntb-people-to-work-overseas-1447893297",
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