Indonesian sex workers arrested in Saudi Arabia

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said Saudi Arabian authorities had arrested some 100 Indonesian migrant workers employed as prostitutes in several cities in the kingdom.

"We are lobbying Saudi Arabian authorities to release them and, subsequently, shall bring them back home," Jacob said after receiving Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Basuni at his office over the weekend.

The minister explained that some of the sex workers had entered Saudi Arabia on green worker passports, while others had traveled there disguised as pilgrims.

"Some of them left their workplaces and sought Indonesian pimps, who hired them out. Other stayed on, after performing a pilgrimage, to work as prostitutes," said the minister, adding that they were netted in brothel raids in several cities in the kingdom.

Many Indonesians working as taxi drivers and traders in Saudi Arabia also work as pimps, and hire sex workers to foreigners and locals in that country.

Jacob conceded that the shameful story was one of negative excess in sending workers overseas "and this a good lesson for us to improve the program in the future."

A number of Indonesian workers have also been jailed in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar for crimes and other wrongdoing.

Twelve Indonesian workers are on death row in Malaysia for crimes including murder, robbery and narcotics offenses. The government has hired several Malaysian lawyers to defend them in court.

State Minister of Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto said recently that the government was trying to bring home around 100 Indonesian women employed as sex workers in East Malaysia.

Jacob said the government was planning to implement strict measures when supplying workers overseas, to help minimize abuses against workers and prevent them from getting into trouble with their employers.

"All Indonesians wanting to work overseas will be required to speak at least the language of the host country where they will be employed and to pass an aptitude test devised by the University of Indonesia," he said.

He added that the deployment of workers overseas ought to be based on job orders from users and be registered with Indonesian embassies or consulates general to ensure the provision of adequate protection.