Hubby's photo saves life of hostages

Hubby's photo saves life of hostages

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A tearful encounter with family members here on Thursday ended
the extraordinary journey of Istiqomah binti Misnad and Casingkem
binti Kaspin, two Indonesian maids freed after being taken
hostage in Iraq last week.

Istiqomah, 32, and Casingkem, 24, were reunited with their
husbands, Sugiyanto and Diding Ismail respectively, at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices in Jakarta. Istiqomah's uncle
Ihsan Sudahman was silent, but emotional, while Casingkem's
mother Karsini could not hold back her tears.

The two families arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday after being
notified that an Iraq-based militant group released Istiqomah, of
Banyuwangi in East Java, and Casingkem, of Indramayu in West
Java.

The two maids come from low-income family backgrounds, and
were compelled by economic circumstances to seek jobs overseas.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over Rp 5 million
(US$555) in aid to each family during the meeting that
symbolically ended the week-long hostage-taking drama in Iraq for
them.

"Praise God, we've finally arrived back in Indonesia. My days
in Iraq were real agony," Istiqomah said.

She admitted, however, that she was traveling with a forged
passport to work as a maid in Jordan with the sponsorship of
labor recruitment agency PT Sabrina located in Condet, East
Jakarta.

Istiqomah said she identified herself to her captors as
Rosidah binti Amuh, a name that was then quoted by the ministry
to identify her after seeing the footage on Al-Jazeera
television.

"I traveled on Rosidah's passport. My own passport was being
kept with Ibu Riana of PT Sabrina," she said.

Istiqomah said she was kidnapped and blindfolded when her
vehicle and two other cars were traveling to Iraq from Jordan.

In order to prove that the two hostages were Indonesian
Muslims, the kidnappers asked them to recite the Koran, and they
passed this test.

The kidnappers also accused the women of being the wives of
Western men. "I don't know who were the men they were referring
to. Luckily, I brought a photo of my husband. I showed them his
picture and they believed me," Istiqomah said.

After being convinced, the captors treated them well.
Istiqomah said she and Casingkem were released after the
kidnappers saw President Megawati Soekarnoputri make an appeal on
Al-Jazeera.

"I could not stop crying and refused to eat. I just wanted to
go home. They told me to calm down and 'Insya Allah (God
willing), you will return home to Indonesia," Istiqomah said.

Casingkem, however, refused to speak during Thursday's media
gathering.

The two women arrived in Jakarta from Abu Dhabi on Thursday
afternoon and were directly taken to a meeting with Megawati, who
asked them to recall their ordeal in Iraq.

"We are very happy today because two of our citizens, who were
taken hostage in Iraq, have returned home safely," Megawati said
after the 15-minute meeting.

The President urged all Indonesians to comply with proper
legal procedures before working abroad in order to make it easy
for the government to track them down and provide necessary
protection.

"We often face difficulties identifying and locating our
migrant workers, which makes it even harder for us to decide on
measures needed to keep them safe," she said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Marty Natalegawa said
about 40 Indonesians are believed to live in Iraq, including
eight students and others who are married to Iraqis. He
reiterated calls for them to fly home as soon as possible.

After the reunion at the ministry, Istiqomah and Casingkem
were taken to meet with Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Jacob Nuwa Wea. Present were representatives from government-
appointed labor exporting companies PT Sabrina Paramitha and PT
Akbar Insan Prima, both believed to have recruited and sent the
two maids overseas.

"A preliminary probe shows that most of the institutions
involved have contributed to illegal departures of migrant
workers overseas," Jacob said.

He said his office and the National Police would jointly
investigate the case of Istiqomah and Casingkem thoroughly to
prevent similar ordeals in the future.