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)