Extradition treaty not a solution: Lopa

JAKARTA (JP): Establishing an extradition agreement with Saudi Arabia will be ineffective if the government fails to address shortcomings in its worker recruitment procedures, a rights activist said Saturday.

The call for an extradition agreement followed the beheading of an Indonesian worker in the oil-rich country.

The secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights, Baharuddin Lopa, said Indonesian workers must be properly briefed in order to obey the Saudi legal system, and the government must provide legal protection for workers.

"The expulsion of our workers from Saudi Arabia would not have taken place if strict worker recruitment procedures had been implemented," Lopa was quoted by Antara as saying in Semarang, Central Java.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said last month that the government must establish an extradition agreement with the Saudi Arabian government to protect its citizens who may face prosecution.

The government was forced to airlift nearly 17,000 "problematic" Indonesians -- including some 10,000 working without proper documents -- from Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government rounded up the illegal workers in a massive operation following a three-month amnesty, which ended early last month, for hundreds of thousands of problematic foreigners.

Saudi Arabia has threatened to punish people who overstay their visas or do not have complete immigration documents with a minimum six-month jail term and a maximum fine of US$26,000.

More than 364,000 workers from Indonesia -- the world's largest Moslem nation -- work legally in Saudi Arabia, mostly as housemaids, laborers, drivers and nurses.

Domestic servant Soleha Anam Kadiran was beheaded in September after being convicted of murdering her employer, who allegedly raped her.

Another worker, Nasiroh Karmudin, was saved from a possible death penalty last week after lawyers sent by the government succeeded in persuading the victim's wife to pardon Nasiroh. The 24-year-old woman also retracted a previous confession that she had killed her employer.

Nasiroh initially admitted the murder in 1994 and she has been in jail, in Gassim, ever since.

The government has come under fire for acting slowly in both cases.

The chairman of Indonesian Ulemas Association (MUI), Hasan Basri, urged the government Saturday to help prevent illegal workers from going to Saudi Arabia.

Many of the workers first arrived in Saudi Arabia on the pretext of performing umrah, minor haj, and then stayed to work.

The chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, Abdurrahman Wahid, dismissed Friday the claim that exporting Indonesian laborers would bring shame to the country.

Speaking to reporters in Yogyakarta on Friday, Abdurrahman said sending laborers abroad would "mature" Indonesian workers in anticipation of the globalization and trade liberalization in the 21st century.

"Workers will learn a lot about the spirit of working, instead of just acquiring skills," Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said.

And sending workers to Saudi Arabia would help reduce the unemployment rate here, he said.

"It's better for them to work abroad rather than do nothing here."

He suggested that the Indonesian government should not only send housemaids or drivers.

"We need to send more skilled laborers abroad.

"The workers' situation deteriorated because their employers sometimes do not have the same understanding of workers' rights as we do."

Abdurrahman suggested that every Indonesian working abroad save some money before they sign a contract and entrust the money -- as a guarantee -- with the Indonesian Embassy at their destination.

"They can use the money if suddenly they have to leave the country where they work."

He said that such a practice had been implemented by the Indian government.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief said Thursday that a flight armada -- which included planes from Garuda Indonesia, Saudi Airlines and Singapore Airlines -- was helping shuttle 1,200 workers a day.

He said the airlifting of workers was expected to be completed by Nov. 11. (prb/23/imn)