28 RI women allegedly mistreated in Singapore
28 RI women allegedly mistreated in Singapore
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-eight Indonesian women working as
domestic helpers in Singapore have been mistreated by their
employers, according to an Indonesian cabinet minister.
The workers have taken refuge at the Indonesian embassy
complex in the city state, State Minister of Women's Roles Mien
Sugandhi said after meeting Sunday with 1,000 Indonesians, mostly
female laborers, working in Singapore.
"Some workers were abducted for several months and were made
to toil day and night," she said. Many complained their wages
were withheld although they had worked for several months, she
was quoted by Antara as saying.
Others told the minister they had been raped by their
employers.
Unable to bear the hardship, some workers broke out of their
employers' apartments, by tying bed sheets together and climbing
down the outside walls, and sought refuge in the embassy, Mien
said.
Mien, who has expressed concern over the conditions endured by
Indonesian workers' in Saudi Arabia, is en route to several
Middle East countries to obtain first-hand information on the
situation. Her next destination will be the United Arab Emirates.
Courage
She praised the workers' for summoning up the courage to flee
their workplaces.
The minister did say however that many Indonesians had found
good employers and had renewed their contracts several times.
She told the workers to safeguard their Indonesian identity
and retain the courage to face all challenges. "If you don't have
the courage to tackle the challenges, you'd better go home."
Part of the problem, the minister found, was the dishonest
Indonesian manpower suppliers who sent the Indonesians to
Singapore.
The companies, she said, sought nothing but profit. They
hardly cared about contacting the workers to check on whether
they had proper legal protection.
She promised to look into improving the recruitment system to
eliminate the mistreatment Indonesians going overseas.
The government is determined to phase out the export of
unskilled workers. It hopes that by the end of 2004 only trained
workers will be sent abroad.
According to Mien,the conditions faced by Indonesian workers
in Singapore were better than those in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Ambassador HBL Mantiri said he would help reform the
recruitment system, improving coordination with the workers and
Singaporean labor agents.
The embassy has, since September last year, required
Indonesians working in Singapore to register at the diplomatic
mission to make communication with them easier.
"The embassy charges for the service because it would need
money to help people out if they had a problem," Mantiri said.
(pan)