Soleha: A tragedy that will continue?

Soleha: A tragedy that will continue?

From Republika

I was really shocked to read a report on the beheading in
Saudi Arabia of an Indonesian woman migrant worker called Soleha
and became all the more so when it was also reported -- in
newspapers -- that she had been incarcerated since 1993 and that
our embassy there claimed ignorance of her case all these years.

It makes me wonder how our embassy in Saudi Arabia could have
no knowledge at all about an Indonesian citizen committing a
crime there. Why should newspaper reporters have to nose around
to find out enough information about this case? This is something
that struck me as extremely odd upon reading the report.

A recent demonstration by the Consortium to Defend Indonesian
Migrant Workers was staged at the Saudi Arabian embassy in
Jakarta. The Saudi ambassador himself came out to meet the
protesters (it seems that, unlike ambassadors from other
countries, he did not regard himself as being "too high" to meet
them). The ambassador explained that the beheading of Soleha was
carried out in accordance to a court ruling after she had gone
through a fair trial based on the prevailing laws in Saudi
Arabia.

Well, it would be logical that if there had been a trial, it
would have been reported in local newspapers. Why, then, did our
embassy in Saudi Arabia claim that it did not know anything about
this matter until the execution was reported in Indonesian
newspapers? Supposing that our embassy there had gotten
information about this, why did it not make efforts to defend
Soleha -- just like what the Philippine government did some time
ago when it tried to defend a Filipina migrant worker who was
facing a death sentence in an Arab country?

I believe that if it was true that Soleha committed murder,
there had to have been a reason for her to do so. Also, if it was
true that she was insane, something had to have caused this
alleged illness in Saudi Arabia because she left Indonesia a sane
woman. It is a pity that our embassy in Saudi Arabia just did not
do anything until the report caught everyone by surprise here --
and by that time help was, of course, too late.

Some time ago, our state official on women's roles visited
Saudi Arabia and showed great enthusiasm to improve the fate of
our women migrant workers there. Unfortunately, until now she has
not done anything concrete yet.

According to statistics, some 500 Indonesian women migrant
workers have lost their lives in Saudi Arabia but, unfortunately,
only the causes of 10 per cent of these deaths are known. It must
be remembered that these women decided to go to Saudi Arabia to
improve their lives -- not to involve themselves in criminal
cases or have their lives ended.

One thing causing greater concern is the fact that the
manpower recruiting companies which have sent women for
employment in Saudi Arabia give the impression that they are
reluctant to assume responsibility for women migrant workers
facing problems there. On the other hand, if some of these women
are successful and return to Indonesia, they become recruiting
examples for company officers.

Having observed the ill fate befalling many women migrant
workers, I am curious as to why the government sticks to its
policy to send them to Saudi Arabia. It is obvious that Saudi
Arabian laws and culture are different from ours. It is also
obvious that women, particularly domestic helpers, are considered
worthless there. Why doesn't the government decide to send women
workers to our neighboring countries, where problems, should they
arise at all, would be easier to settle?

Will the tragedy befalling Indonesian women migrant workers
continue?

MRS. S WALUYO

Jakarta