Cases of abuse of Indonesian workers expected to continue

Cases of abuse of Indonesian workers expected to continue

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta

The violence against Indonesian workers employed as maids
overseas could increase in the future because of the absence of
an effective mechanism to monitor their condition, according to
experts on the subject.

Both the government and labor agencies conceded here on
Tuesday that they had found it difficult to monitor the condition
of Indonesian workers employed in the informal sector for
numerous reasons.

Director General for Overseas Labor Placement at the Manpower
and Transmigration Ministry I Gusti Made Arka said that the
government had done much to provide protection for workers but it
was found less effective since labor abuse is still frequent.

"The government has appointed labor attaches in Saudi Arabia
and Malaysia and, in addition, it has signed a labor agreement
with the two countries, but... such abuse still happens," he said
in a meeting with labor exporters in line with the tragic abuse
of 19-year-old Nirmala Bonat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He explained that Indonesia had signed a labor agreement with
Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in 1996 and 2004, respectively, but the
agreements had been found ineffective in averting violence
against workers in the informal sector.

"Besides the absence of a legislation, other related
authorities, including the police, the immigration office and
security authorities, are still lacking coordination to prevent
the departure of illegal and untrained job-seekers and this has
indirectly contributed to labor abuses because such job-seekers
will certainly develop troubles during their employment. They
could be mistreated, underpaid, tortured or raped," he said.

Panca Karsa Foundation in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, has
recorded that the number of Indonesian workers killed during
their employment overseas has increased from 21 in 2002 to 32 in
2003 and 20 from Jan. to May, 2004 while the number of labor
abuses has gone up from 87 in 2002 to 180 in 2003 and 120 from
January to May, 2004.

Around 500 workers arrive home via the International Soekarno-
Hatta Airport almost every day and an average of ten percent of
them were deported for developing trouble with their employers
overseas. An estimated 1.5 million Indonesians are working in
Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Taiwan and
most are employed in the informal sector.

Djamal, secretary-general of the Indonesian Labor Exporters
Association (Idea), the rampant labor abuses had a lot to do with
the absence of a monitoring mechanism because the workers were
employed as domestic helpers.

"It is impossible for the labor attaches and labor exporters
to check the condition of each worker routinely and it looks
impossible because many of the house maids are not even monitored
by the government or their relatives," he said.

Rusdhie A., deputy chairman of the Indonesian Labor Supplying
Companies Association (Apjati), said the rampant labor abuse was
also related to cultural issues.

"Labor abuse is rampant in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia because
the workers have been treated as slaves. Male employers employ
them more than the conventional working hours while male
employers have frequently abused them (for sex) and their culture
is far different from ours," he said.

Endang Susilowati, director of the Panca Karsa Foundation, in
Mataram, told The Jakarta Post that the government and labor
exporters could not use the absence of a monitoring mechanism as
an excuse to avoid responsibility for the labor abuse.

"The government should give workers a red-carpet welcome upon
their arrival home and help out troubled ones since they
contribute so much foreign exchange," he said, adding President
Megawati Soekarnoputri should show her concern for them by
visiting Nirmala in Malaysia.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea was
scheduled to go with Nirmala's mother Martha Toni to Kuala Lumpur
to convey the government's deep concern over the labor abuse and
to visit Nirmala still staying with hundreds of other Indonesian
troubled workers at the Indonesian Embassy in the city.