`Stop exporting female workers'<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A research institute affiliated with Nahdhatul Ulama (NU) called
\non the government on Thursday to immediately terminate the export
\nof female migrant workers abroad.<\/p>\n
Head of the migrant worker advocacy team set up by the NU
\nmanpower development institute Achsin Zaidy said that given the
\nrecent plight that had befallen hundreds of overseas workers, it
\nwas high time that the government stop the export of female
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
\"The sending of migrant workers to work as baby-sitters,
\ndomestic helpers, waitresses and the like will only disgrace the
\nwhole nation,\" he was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
The 19-strong team also urged the government to establish
\nbilateral ties with countries receiving Indonesian workers,
\nmostly in the Middle East, and dispatch more labor attaches and
\npolice liaison officers to handle cases involving overseas
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
\"We also demand our envoys in the receiving countries to do
\nmore to protect the civil rights of our overseas workers,\" Achsin
\ntold reporters here.<\/p>\n
The team has sent a petition -- concerning a moratorium on the
\nexport of migrant workers -- to President Megawati Sukarnoputri
\nand the House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin
\nIskandar.<\/p>\n
NU is considered the largest Muslim organization in the
\ncountry with 40 millions members.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Muhaimin called for the resignation of Minister of
\nManpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea for his failure to
\nprotect the rights of the country's migrant workers.<\/p>\n
Muhaimin said that the minister was considered to be unable to
\ncope with the issue, as made evident by the repeated cases of
\nabuse against Indonesian workers overseas.<\/p>\n
He made the statement after a meeting of House leaders which
\nalso recommended that the government halt the export of female
\nmigrant workers.<\/p>\n
In the last two weeks, 15 female workers have been treated at
\nthe Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, since
\ntheir arrival from a number of Middle Eastern countries.<\/p>\n
Some of the women admitted that they had to return home after
\nworking for several months because they could no longer cope with
\nthe constant violence inflicted upon them by employers, including
\nsexual abuse.<\/p>\n
A number of the returning migrant workers were reportedly
\nsuffering from clinical depression.<\/p>\n
Achsin said that the manpower ministry should penalize
\nrecruitment agencies (PJTKI) which have violated proper
\nprocedures in recruiting migrant workers.<\/p>\n
Separately, the manpower minister rebuked demands for his
\nresignation as aired by Muhaimin.<\/p>\n
\"I am not to blame for the plight of our migrant workers,
\nbecause this is an accumulation of the country's problems during
\nthe last 32 two years,\" Nuwa Wea said, referring to the period of
\npresident Soeharto's administration.<\/p>\n
He downplayed problems afflicting migrant workers, saying that
\nthey were but a small problem among a myriad of problems in his
\nministry.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stop-exporting-female-workers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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