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