RI women work in S. Arabia for religious reason: Mien<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Religious motivation is the strongest reason
\n364,084 Indonesian Moslem workers, mostly women, choose to work
\nin Saudi Arabia, a minister said yesterday.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi said the women
\ncould earn three times more in Hong Kong or Singapore.<\/p>\n
Most women who work in Saudi Arabia do so as house maids on
\ntwo-year contracts.<\/p>\n
\"Their main motivation for working there is to enable them to
\nperform their Haj pilgrim and Umroh (minor haj),\" Mien said after
\nreporting to President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace on her recent
\ntrip to Myanmar, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Mien said the biggest group of Indonesian workers in Saudi
\nArabia was in Riyadh where there were 100,502 workers, followed
\nby Jeddah with 83,936, Mecca 82,470, Khobar and Damman 50,075,
\nMedina 31,500 and Thaif 15,600 workers.<\/p>\n
Indonesian bank cashiers and nurses earn the most, about Saudi
\nReal 2,500 (US$583), while domestic workers and drivers earn only
\nabout SR600.<\/p>\n
Mien visited Myanmar from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16; Vietnam from
\nSept. 16 to Sept. 18; and Saudi Arabia from Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.<\/p>\n
Mien sparked controversy in February this year when she
\nreportedly said that hundreds of Indonesian teenagers had been
\nsent to work as prostitutes in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdullah Abdulrahman Alim denied her
\nallegation.<\/p>\n
\"The law in our country is very strict, it is impossible that
\nwe would let such immoral activities develop,\" he said at the
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Mien later said journalists had misquoted her.<\/p>\n
A long-time resident of Saudi Arabia, however, confirmed that
\nthere were Indonesian prostitutes in the country.<\/p>\n
After her visit to Saudi Arabia, Mien concluded that the
\nbiggest problem faced by workers there was employers refusing to
\npay workers on the grounds that they gave unsatisfactory service.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabian employers were often disappointed with the
\nquality of Indonesian workers' skills and their poor knowledge of
\nArabian tradition and language.<\/p>\n
\"There is no effective system for monitoring our workers
\nabroad,\" Mien said.<\/p>\n
She said Indonesian workers had contributed US$1.87 trillion
\nin foreign exchange to Indonesia in the last three years of the
\ncurrent Sixth Five-year Development Program Planning.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief earlier said that there were
\n1.95 million Indonesians working overseas as of March this year.
\nThey earned an average monthly wage of $300 he said.<\/p>\n
Mien said Indonesian workers were often given inappropriate
\ntraining prior to their overseas postings.(prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-women-work-in-s-arabia-for-religious-reason-mien-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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