Two RI workers abused in Germany and Malaysia

JAKARTA (JP): Two Indonesian women workers in Germany and Malaysia respectively have reportedly been abused by their employers, according to an official at the Ministry of Justice's Directorate General of Immigration.

Spokesman Mursanudin A. Ghani quoted the head of the immigration section at the Indonesian embassy in Bonn, Lukmiardi, as saying that Misda Indarti Muhammad was found, badly bruised, by the police here on Aug. 12. The 30-year-old woman comes from Jember, East Java.

"Misda said she was treated inhumanely by her employer and had not been paid for her work," Lukmiardi said.

Police have arrested Jamil Sirojuddin, a Saudi Arabian national, who had allegedly mistreated Misda since hiring her.

Misda left Indonesia for Saudi Arabia in May and went to Germany with her employer late last month. She ran away from her employer's house but got lost.

Celestine A.K. Syafei, 18, from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, worked in Malaysia for an employer in Kuching.

Celestine's employer had hit her the eye and beaten her all over with rattan and wooden sticks during the past four months, to punish her for allegedly stealing two apples, forgetting to turn off water pump, and neglecting other menial tasks.

Mursanudin said that Celestine had worked for her employer -- now detained by the Kuching police -- since May without payment.

Celestine has received medical treatment and is staying with the family of an Indonesian immigration attache in Kuching while she waits to return home.

There are now 99,948 Indonesian women workers registered in Malaysia, 41,962 of them in the informal sector, according to data recently reported by the office of the State Minister of Women's Roles.

More Indonesian women are heading overseas to work, 3,221 women are registered as working in the United Arab Emirates, 19,992 in Hong Kong and 21,000 in Singapore.

Indonesian workers in Malaysia receive on average Rp 475,000 (US$187) a month, about Rp 600,000 in the United Arab Emirates, Rp 1.1 million in Hong Kong and Rp 400,000 in Singapore. (aan)