Domestics helpers face danger at home and abroad

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of women leave the country everyday to try their luck abroad as domestic helpers. The difficulties in finding jobs here and the large salaries offered by employment agencies has motivated them to travel as far as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Middle Eastern countries.

In Indonesia, a domestic helper earns between Rp 50,000 (US$6.25) and Rp 200,000 per month, depending on their experience and the mercy of their employers. But if they work abroad, they can make about Rp 3 million per month, which is more than some young professional's salaries here.

Data from the Ministry of Manpower shows that last year more than 380,000 Indonesians left the country to work overseas, earning some $1.25 billion. About 60 percent of them became domestic workers.

As they generate quite a lot of money, the government has given them the title "heroes of foreign exchange". To show its appreciation, the government provided them with Terminal Three at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. This special terminal, inaugurated by President B.J. Habibie on Aug. 31, is operated to protect returning workers from extortion and swindling at the airport, which has been happening for years.

It was at this terminal where Romlah, 30, arrived last month. She brought with her some jewelry and Rp 10 million in cash, which she earned during her three years in Saudi Arabia. Being cautious, she kept the cash in her underwear.

However, "at the airport, several men in brown uniforms herded me in a room and confiscated all my documents," she said. Worse, she, along with some other workers, were told to get into a Kijang van. After about an hours drive, the vehicle stopped and the women were taken into a house, where Romlah saw between 15 and 20 other women. They were all stripped off and were forced to hand over their money and jewelry. Romlah was finally taken to the town of Karawang, West Java, from where she later went home to her village by a motorbike taxi.

Her tragic story was told by Salma Safitri, an activist at the Division of Migrant Workers' Advocation at the Women's Solidarity for Human Rights.

"We can't follow up the matter legally because we have no evidence. We could do so if we could find the other 15 or 20 women who went through the same experience, but how can we locate them?" Safitri said.

She also complained about the authorities which blame each other and refuse to be responsible in the matter.

Spokesman for the Directorate General of Immigration Mursanuddin A. Ghani denied any involvement of immigration officials in the abuse of migrant workers. "I've never heard such reports," he said.

Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris is aware of the continuing exploitation of the returning migrant workers at the airport. He said last month that the ministry was trying to seek a solution to the problems in cooperation with the police and other government institutions.

"But of course we can't solve the problems quickly, we need time," he said. He also alleged that some employees of the airport authority might be involved in the offenses.

In an effort to improve conditions for migrant workers, earlier this month Director General of Labor Placement Din Syamsuddin issued a letter to the Association of Labor Placement Agencies, reminding them that they should not confiscate the workers' passports.

The manpower ministry estimated that about 10 percent of the migrant workers were unfortunate.

Hair-raising stories about the abuse of house maids, ranging from unpaid salaries and long working hours to beatings, rapes and suicides, do not deter the women.

In the Sixth Five-Year Development Program, from April 1, 1994 to March 31, 1999, the number of migrant workers was 1.46 million with earnings of $4.18 billion, which means that each fiscal year saw an average of less than 300,000 overseas workers.

From the period of April 1 to July 31 this year, the number of migrant workers was at 207,079 with generated foreign exchange revenues of $395.9 million.

At present an average of 1,600 workers leave the country every day from 15 embarkation terminals. Most of them leave from Jakarta.

But there is also an increase in the cases of abuse, which can sometimes end in the worker's death. This year, about 70 workers died in Saudi Arabia.

The abuse of migrant workers is an old story. It has been happening since the labor export program started in 1983, not only in the Middle East, but also in other places. Last month two Indonesian maids in Singapore fell to their deaths from highrise buildings while cleaning apartment windows.

The government has repeatedly voiced its concern over the fate of Indonesian migrant workers, who are mostly poorly educated. The manpower ministry, for example, has been calling on labor placement agencies to do their job well and to take administrative sanctions against some delinquent agencies. But things do not seem to be improving.

On the assault by employers, Din Syamsuddin once said that it could happen because the workers are not capable of doing their jobs. Employers could become disappointed and upset, which could lead to violence against the workers.

Returning migrant workers are often extorted from and cheated by people who offer services to take them home. Why would they accept such offers? They know they should never trust strangers.

A domestic helper told Minister Fahmi, in a dialog with migrant workers recently, that a police officer at the Semarang airport took her check of Rp 45 million, which she earned after working for seven years in Riyadh.

The minister, urging the audience to learn from her experience, told them to use banking services. He pledged to provide better legal protection for the workers. He has kept his promise with the opening of the new terminal. However, it has not been operating as expected.

"In fact, there are more opportunities to abuse the workers in the new terminal, which is exclusively designed for migrant workers, because there is no control from the public," Safitri said.

Instead of receiving better treatment at the new terminal, the workers, suffer more because the terminal is far from comfortable. It lacks facilities such as an information center, a proper waiting room, an adequate number of toilets and a reasonable amount of public phones.

"If the government is serious, then there are two things to do: empower the workers and take strict action against the abusers.

"Otherwise, the exploitation will continue," said Safitri. (sim)