Villagers mourn workers' death, seek explanations

Villagers mourn workers' death, seek explanations

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Sama Samili did not think when he saw his daughter Sumiyati off
at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in September last
year that it would be their last meeting.

The 23-year-old woman who worked as domestic helper for a rich
family in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was reportedly killed in the
middle of October in a traffic accident and her body was buried
in a public cemetery in the presence of the Indonesian labor
attache there.

Sumiyati's father regretted having asked his daughter to work
in Saudi Arabia, but said that the family had decided not to have
her body repatriated.

"If I knew she would die in such a manner I wouldn't have let
her go to the Middle East. This compensation of US$4,000 is no
consolation for our loss," he said on Thursday after receiving
the fund from Paramitra Bersama Foundation, which insures
Indonesian workers in the Gulf countries.

Samili said that Sumiyati's two-year work contract in Saudi
Arabia was supposed to help the family raise funds to set up a
small business, and repay an expensive loan to an usurer.

"It was our dream," said Samili who works as a farmer with a
weekly income of around Rp 300,000 (about US$300) in his hometown
in Karawang, West Java.

Sumiyati's departure and employment were sponsored by labor
recruitment company PT Bahtera Tulus Karya, which confirmed her
death many weeks after she was buried.

A similar fate also befell Watem, another migrant worker who
died of cancer. Her body was not sent home, raising suspicion
among her relatives.

"I was shocked when I was informed that she had died of cancer
because she was in a good health when she underwent a medical
checkup a few days before her departure on June 16, 2004,"
Muhammad Sabar, Watem's wife, said.

He said his family had no objection to his wife being buried
in Saudi Arabia, but felt the government should seek an official
report on her death.

Watem worked as a domestic helper sponsored by PT Amri
Margatama with a gross monthly salary of Rp 1.25 million and died
on July 25, 2005.

Sabar, a resident of Karangjati Village in Cilacap, Central
Java, said he had not received a cent from his wife from her
employment in Saudi Arabia, while he needed money to bring up
their only son Noval who is still a toddler.

Sainah, a 26-year-old worker from Indramayu, West Java, was
also killed in a traffic accident on Sept. 18, 2005 and was also
buried in Saudi Arabia.

Talim Wartalim, Sainah's father, said his family had accepted
her death, but they were waiting for an official report on the
accident and his daughter's salary for the year she was employed
there.

He was grateful for the insurance money, saying it would be
used to set up a fish farm in his home village.

Wahyu Susilo, an activist from non-governmental organization
Migrant Care, expressed suspicion over the deaths of the three
workers, saying there were no official reports from the relevant
authorities in Saudi Arabia.

"Due to the large number of Indonesian citizens working as
domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia, although many have been abused
and raped and many deaths have been reported the incidents have
not been thoroughly investigated," he said.

He said that dozens of workers returned home annually with
serious injuries after experiencing physical abuse, while dozens
of others died without and were buried there without any
investigation being conducted.