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