Protection for workers<\/p>\n
Near the end of 1994, a married Indonesian couple working in
\nSaudi Arabia was beheaded for killing their employer. The act was
\ncommitted by the husband in defense of his wife, who was about to
\nbe abused by the employer. In Indonesia the case was met with
\nindifference. Apparently, nobody felt any sense of responsibility
\nfor the incident, which took the lives of two persons.<\/p>\n
Reactions to the case were very much different from, say,
\nthose we saw in the case of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipina maid
\nwho was hanged in Singapore. There, the incident had wide
\nrepercussions and shocked both the people and the government of
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
It is because of such a situation that President Soeharto felt
\nit prudent to arouse our conscience to the fate of our workers
\nabroad. In an address to the participants in a national
\nconference by the Ministry of Manpower on Wednesday, the
\nPresident asked all Indonesian embassies abroad to protect
\nIndonesian workers. Our embassies have also been asked to pay
\ngreater attention to the lot of Indonesian workers and provide
\nthem with assistance whenever necessary.<\/p>\n
Perhaps we do not want to follow the Philippine example
\nentirely. However, their example of caring for the fate of their
\nworkers is worth following. After all, the courage of our workers
\nin taking up employment in a foreign country has helped us solve
\na number of our considerable manpower problems at home. The money
\nthey send home has helped raise the living standards of their
\nfamilies. By the year 2000 the foreign exchange they'll be
\nearning will total no less than US$12 billion a year.<\/p>\n
Considering all that, it would only be proper to give them
\nbetter protection.<\/p>\n
-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/protection-for-workers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }