Special attention urged for RI workers in Saudi
Special attention urged for RI workers in Saudi
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas yesterday instructed Indonesia's newly appointed Consul General to Jeddah, Anwar Yasin, to pay special attention to the plight of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia.
Alatas said the duties of the consulate general in Jeddah has become all the more important with the "rising demand for Indonesian workers and the number of people going on the haj and umroh (minor) pilgrimages.
During an inauguration ceremony at the foreign ministry building, Alatas told Yasin: "I ask that you give special attention in overseeing the matter of Indonesian laborers."
Also initiated during the ceremony were Jacky Djumantara Wahyu as Consul General to Vancouver, Canada, and Soejono Soerjoatmodjo as Consul General to Chicago, United States.
Alatas' instructions came just two-days after members of the House of Representatives questioned him on the ministry's stance on sending Indonesian workers abroad.
To the House, Alatas expressed concern over the matter and indicated his distress at the large number of unskilled laborers the country was sending overseas.
There is an estimated one million Indonesians employed abroad with about 500,000 in Saudi Arabia and 400,000 in Malaysia.
"The matter of Indonesian workers, for the foreign ministry, is viewed in terms of Indonesia's image abroad. The foreign ministry is deeply concerned," Alatas said during a hearing with the House's Commission I on foreign policy and defense.
He felt that sending too many unskilled workers abroad would create a false image "such as the complex image of the Turks in Europe."
However, the minister yielded to the fact that it is part of an overall government policy and he is thus obliged to oversee its secure implementation abroad.
"The foreign ministry is part of the government, the foreign ministry cannot act alone," he told legislators while noting the wider economic considerations and lack of jobs at home to defend the policy.
Members of the House have in the past called on the government to stop the business of sending workers abroad, especially females who work in the informal sector.
A fact-finding mission by members of the House found that about 1,500 Indonesian female workers in Saudi Arabia had been sexually abused.
Legal protection in this area seems nonexistent since female workers in the informal sector, such as maids, are not covered by the Saudi ministry of labor and social affairs.
Legislator Kamil Shahab from the United Development Party faction pointed at the high number of cases of sexual abuse and brought up the issue of protecting Indonesian workers in the oil- rich kingdom.
An Indonesia couple working as laborers were beheaded in November without Indonesian authorities being notified.
Alatas admitted his concern at the ill fate of the couple but explained that the situation was sometimes beyond the government's control.
"You don't have to look as far as Saudi Arabia, even in Malaysia they are late in informing us if an Indonesian has been arrested," he remarked.
"We will always try to defend Indonesian workers. But sometimes the situation is like that," the minister told the legislators. (mds)