Activists urge more support for female migrant workers

Activists urge more support for female migrant workers

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Rights and labor activists urged the government and the public at
large on Wednesday to pay more attention to the plight of female
migrant workers, including five housemaids currently facing
possible death sentences in neighboring Singapore.

"We must defend our female migrant workers. They contribute a
lot of earnings to the state, so the state should protect them,"
said Yanti Mochtar of the National Commission on Violence Against
Women (Komnas Perempuan) in a discussion in conjunction with
Kartini Day on Wednesday.

Kartini Day, which falls on April 21, is the birthday of
national heroine R.A. Kartini, who quietly fought for gender
equality in the 19th century.

Yanti regretted the poor service from the government, mainly
the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, to Indonesian migrant workers.

Government officials should realize that they were paid by the
state budget, which includes foreign debt, taxes and income from
migrant worker remittances, Yanti said.

"Not only are there legal problems; migrant workers, mostly
women, also experience sexual abuse. So far, the government has
paid little attention to Indonesian workers overseas," she said.

More than half of around 1.3 million Indonesian migrant
workers overseas, including in Singapore, are women, who often
suffer abuse by their employers and extortion by Indonesian
officials.

The five Indonesian workers currently facing possible death
sentences in Singapore are identified as Sudarti Supriyanto,
Purwanti Parji, Sumiyati Karyo, Juminem and Siti Aminah. They
have been charged with murder, with the maximum sentence of
death.

Migrant worker Nining, who has worked as a housemaid in
Singapore for seven years, claimed on Wednesday that Indonesian
migrant workers had more adverse experiences than housemaids from
other countries, such as the Philippines, due to poor skills and
lack of attention from the government.

"Most of us do not read our contracts, so our employers can
ask us to do whatever they want," said Nining, who is also an
activist of Indo Family, a non-governmental organization in
Singapore that helps Indonesian migrant workers.

She revealed that 98 female workers had died after falling
from windows of their employers' apartments since 1999 although
cleaning the windows -- as ordered by their employers -- was not
allowed under the regulation.

About 70 percent of 1.3 million Indonesian migrant workers are
women, mostly working in Middle Eastern countries, Singapore,
Malaysia and Hong Kong as housemaids.

Most of the female migrant workers are underage and have fake
identity documentation in order to go to work. Most become the
only breadwinner for their poor families back home.

Meanwhile, Wahyu Susilo, chairman of Migrant Care, urged the
Singapore government to lighten their sentences if they were
found guilty, due to adverse experiences suffered by the workers
at the hands of their employers.

"The Singapore government must take into account the
circumstances, including physical abuse, before the crime
occurred. They do not deserve the death sentence," Wahyu said in
the discussion.

Syahwin Adenan, Director for Citizen Protection of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that the government has
provided lawyers for the five migrant workers, saying it could
not interfere in the legal process.