Saudi minister admits RI workers' problems, urges proper training
Saudi minister admits RI workers' problems, urges proper training
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Saudi Arabia still needs Indonesian migrant workers to work as
domestic helpers and also in the medical and electronic sectors.
Problems have occurred when the workers do not have adequate
skills even to do domestic work, said Saudi Arabian Minister of
Labor and Social Affairs Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Namlah.
Al-Namlah said when meeting Vice President Hamzah Haz here on
Tuesday that Indonesian migrant workers' inability to speak
Arabic and to operate home appliances had led to problems between
the workers and their employers.
Therefore, he encouraged the Indonesian government to provide
proper training for the workers before sending them abroad.
Antara reported that Al-Namlah was disappointed with the
overexposure of abuse cases in the local media as only 400 of
330,000 Indonesian migrant workers, or 1.2 percent, had reported
incidents of serious abuse.
The media has given wide coverage on the abuse of Indonesian
domestic helpers in Middle Eastern countries after 19 female
workers returned home from Kuwait with injuries they received
while employed there.
Separately, Muhaimin Iskandar, deputy speaker of the House of
Representatives, visited migrant workers currently hospitalized
at the Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.
He urged the government to set up a crisis center, comprising
all related ministries, to address the migrant workers problems.
"We (the House) also urged the government to immediately
deliberate the migrant workers protection bill," he said.
The bill was submitted to the government last month.
Normawati, a volunteer with the Consortium for Migrant Workers
Protection (Kopbumi) who accompanies Muhaimin, said that
activists have pushed the government to take serious measures to
protect migrant workers.
She demanded the government temporarily halt sending workers
abroad until it improved recruitment and training practices and
improved protection for the workers.
15 returning workers end up in hospital
Within only two weeks, a total of 15 female migrant workers
returning from Middle Eastern countries have been hospitalized at
the Soekanto Police Hospital in East Jakarta upon their arrival at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Ten of the workers are being treated at the hospital's
psychiatric ward, while five others are being treated by
internists.
Ida, who comes from Indramayu, West Java, had to be
hospitalized after she returned from Jordan with severe injuries.
She said that her employer often stepped on her bladder
whenever she made mistakes. Dina, a migrant worker activist who
accompanied Ida, said that Ida's legs were so weak she often
trembled.
Rini, 22, was abused sexually by her employer in Saudi Arabia.
She has been working as a domestic helper for 20 months.
"The father and the son attempted to rape me. When I report
them to the mother, she slapped my face," said Rini, who just
returned three days ago.
She said her employers hit her almost every day for small
mistakes like using too much washing powder.
The stress due to the abusive treatment she received has
resulted in amnesia. She cannot remember her parents or where
they live. -- JP