RI women work in S. Arabia for religious reason: Mien

JAKARTA (JP): Religious motivation is the strongest reason 364,084 Indonesian Moslem workers, mostly women, choose to work in Saudi Arabia, a minister said yesterday.

State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi said the women could earn three times more in Hong Kong or Singapore.

Most women who work in Saudi Arabia do so as house maids on two-year contracts.

"Their main motivation for working there is to enable them to perform their Haj pilgrim and Umroh (minor haj)," Mien said after reporting to President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace on her recent trip to Myanmar, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Mien said the biggest group of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia was in Riyadh where there were 100,502 workers, followed by Jeddah with 83,936, Mecca 82,470, Khobar and Damman 50,075, Medina 31,500 and Thaif 15,600 workers.

Indonesian bank cashiers and nurses earn the most, about Saudi Real 2,500 (US$583), while domestic workers and drivers earn only about SR600.

Mien visited Myanmar from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16; Vietnam from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18; and Saudi Arabia from Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.

Mien sparked controversy in February this year when she reportedly said that hundreds of Indonesian teenagers had been sent to work as prostitutes in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdullah Abdulrahman Alim denied her allegation.

"The law in our country is very strict, it is impossible that we would let such immoral activities develop," he said at the time.

Mien later said journalists had misquoted her.

A long-time resident of Saudi Arabia, however, confirmed that there were Indonesian prostitutes in the country.

After her visit to Saudi Arabia, Mien concluded that the biggest problem faced by workers there was employers refusing to pay workers on the grounds that they gave unsatisfactory service.

Saudi Arabian employers were often disappointed with the quality of Indonesian workers' skills and their poor knowledge of Arabian tradition and language.

"There is no effective system for monitoring our workers abroad," Mien said.

She said Indonesian workers had contributed US$1.87 trillion in foreign exchange to Indonesia in the last three years of the current Sixth Five-year Development Program Planning.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief earlier said that there were 1.95 million Indonesians working overseas as of March this year. They earned an average monthly wage of $300 he said.

Mien said Indonesian workers were often given inappropriate training prior to their overseas postings.(prb)