Nuwa Wea hears horror stories of RI maids

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Kuwait has sent 99 Indonesian workers to prison, including seven women who fell pregnant and gave birth in prison after having a relationship with their employers.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea who along with several legislators and representatives of recruitment agencies was on an official visit to the Middle East, met the detainees when he made a visit to a prison under the jurisdiction of the Sulaibia Kuwaiti Immigration Department, where the workers are serving their prison sentence.

Spokesman for the manpower ministry Hotma Panjaitan who accompanied the minister, said that the workers asked the minister to lobby the Kuwaiti authorities for their repatriation since they could no longer endure conditions in the prison, especially the way prison guards have mistreated them.

The minister empathizes with the Indonesian workers but he cannot do anything to help them as Indonesia has to comply with the law in Kuwait, he said.

Hotma said that the Indonesian workers were frantic to meet the minister when they knew that Nuwa Wea was making a visit to the prison.

He conceded that conditions in the prison were quite bad.

"Security at the prison is very tough. We were not allowed to bring in any cameras, cellular phones and or tape recorders to prevent any information leaks from the prison," he said.

Hotma explained that the Indonesian prisoners, mostly women, have been jailed mostly for having affairs with their employers, a crime punishable with a prison sentence in the small but prosperous country.

Many workers who spoke to the minister complained of poor treatment by prison guards, but many others begged the minister to release them and send them back home.

"A lot of workers reported that they had not been given bath soap, tooth brushes and toothpaste or other personal needs. They often receive poor quality food," he said.

Aidah of Kerawang, West Java, who along with her eight-month- old son has been jailed for one year said she wanted to go home so that she could give her son a normal life.

She said she gave birth in prison and would tell her son to kill his father when he grows up for refusing to take responsibility for the child.

"I will train my son to shoot his father," she said in a emotional tone.

She said she had an affair with her employer's son during the four years she worked there, but later was sent to jail after being sentenced by an Islamic court.

Ela Nurlila who was sent to prison after having a relationship with her male employer questioned the indictment even though she was already married to a Syrian driver.

"I was indicted after my employer knew I was married to the Syrian driver," she said.

Legislator Tjarda Mochtar called on the government to hire lawyers to provide legal aid for Indonesian workers employed overseas.

"It is irrational that workers are jailed for falling in love, whether with their employers or their fellow workers," he said.

Hotma said that of the 99 jailed workers, almost 90 percent were women and seven were bringing up their children born in the prison.

Kuwaiti Ambassador to Indonesia Muhammad Fadel Khalaf was not available for comment on Wednesday.