Woman seeks justice from PT Jamsostek

Woman seeks justice from PT Jamsostek

JAKARTA (JP): A female migrant worker is demanding that state-
owned workers insurance firm PT Jamsostek pay her Rp 25 million
(US$3,333) for the blindness allegedly caused by an abusive Saudi
employer four years ago.

Iis Sukarni, 42, made the demand at the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute on Wednesday.

Institute lawyer Surya Tjandra said the resident of
Pemagarsari village in Parung district, Bogor, was entitled to
the insurance payment for the disability she suffered.

Through tears, Iis explained that she arrived in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, on Oct. 15, 1993.

The widow said she was picked up by her employer, identified
only as Abdul Aziz, who took her to a vacant house.

"I was kept at the empty house for almost three months. I was
frequently raped and also tortured if I refused him. Since he was
a big man, I couldn't fight him," Iis, accompanied by her son Ade
Bangun and her father Yahya Sobary, told The Jakarta Post.

One day in January 1994, she resisted when he tried to rape
her again.

An irate Abdul slammed her head against a wall and beat her
with a bottle until she became unconscious.

"I regained consciousness at the Tarhel quarantine facility
for deportation. My eyes started to blur at that time."

She said she was deported in April 1994 after an Indonesian
Embassy official gave her a travel document bearing the new name
of Aisyah Muhamad.

"I tried to refuse the new document but the official forced me
to accept it. My passport was held by my employer."

Iis said she was sent to Saudi Arabia by private manpower
supplier firm PT Fahad Fajar Mustika, but the new document stated
it was state-owned manpower supplier PT Binawan.

She recounted she was transported by ambulance upon arrival in
Jakarta to the office of PT Binawan, which would not assist her
because she was not one of its workers.

The ambulance driver drove her to her home in Parung because
he felt sorry for her, she said.

She said she frequently contacted Fahad and Jamsostek
regarding her grievance, and representatives of the two firms
promised to process her report.

From a low-income family, Iis said she had asked the Bogor's
social services office to cover medical treatment for her eyes.

"But I was rejected. A document stating I am poor was even
torn up by the office's security guard."

She has given up on seeking government assistance.

"I have been completely blind since 1996."

The advent of the reform era raised her hopes of settlement.
She brought her complaint before the National Commission on Human
Rights in October.

The commission sent letters to related parties, including
Fahad.

The firm countered that Iis' complaint could not be processed
because four years had passed since the incident.

Fahad's president Makmun Hamid said on Wednesday the company
had no record of Iis and she had left it too long to air her
grievance.

"She said the incident happened four years ago. So the
insurance claim cannot be paid," Makmun told the Post. (jun)