Better find work at home: Freed hostage

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lady luck finally smiled on Istiqomah binti Misnad and Casingkem binti Aspin on Monday when the two Indonesian women were released after being held hostage by a militant group in Iraq for three days.

But life before their release was far from rosy. Dreaming of receiving some 600 real (US$152) a month salary to work as house maids in Jordan, Istiqomah and Casingkem, ended up stranded in a war-torn country and held captives by the Iraqi Islamic Army.

"Following our arrival in Amman we were fetched by an Iraqi family with a car. We had no idea we were going to Fallujah in Iraq. We were abducted on our way to the city," Istiqomah told private TV station SCTV from Abu Dhabi, as the pair prepared for their return to Indonesia on Wednesday.

Istiqomah and Casingkem were speaking before a medical check- up at the Indonesian Embassy after a short flight from Baghdad. The abductors released them through the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Baghdad because Indonesia is not represented in Iraq. They are scheduled to arrive in Jakarta at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Istiqomah said she and Casingkem were sponsored by migrant worker agency PT Sabrina Paramitha in Condet, East Jakarta, to work in Jordan, "but we didn't know why we were then transported to Iraq."

"We realized something was wrong when (the abductors) took us into the hills and kept us in a warehouse where we were abused," she said. There were nine captives in total but she did not recognize the nationalities of the seven others.

She said her captives whipped her hands with wire and a hose. "I still have bruises on my hands and I can still feel the pain."

Istiqomah said she left her home village in Banyuwangi, East Java, several months ago for Jakarta and departed to Jordan a few weeks ago. Casingkem left her home village in Indramayu, West Java, for Jordan on a different flight at the same time.

The two were reportedly on their way to Iraq to work as maids for two Lebanese electrical engineers who were kidnapped at the same time last week, along with six Iraqis.

Their captors demanded that Indonesia free Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is in prison awaiting trial on charges of leading the Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group.

Arab television station Al-Jazeera said on Monday the group announced it had freed the hostages at Ba'asyir's request.

Istiqomah said the captors asked her repeatedly if she was a Muslim and when she said she was, they asked her to recite verses from the Koran and to pray.

"I recited my prayers as best as I could," she said.

Istiqomah said she would not seek work in the Middle East and urged fellow Indonesians who were considering working overseas to seek work at home instead.

"I hope that after they see me they will decide to stay in Indonesia. It is better to stay with our families," she said.

Istiqomah and Casingkem's husbands, Edi and Sugiyanto, said they had opposed their wives' decisions to work overseas.

"I finally allowed her to work overseas after she borrowed Rp 4 million (US$439) from their neighbor to cover her trip," said Edi, a farm worker in Banyuwangi.

He said Istiqomah left for Jordan under the sponsorship of PT Sabrina. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said according to immigration directorate data, the two were sent by PT Akbar Insana Prima.

Akbar Insana Prima denies recruiting the women.