Worker remains unburied?

Worker remains unburied?

Based on information from our sources, our client's daughter,
Chosiah binti Hosnan, an Indonesian from East Java working in
Saudi Arabia, was killed by a local 11 months ago. However, her
family members learnt of her death from the Indonesian Consulate
General in Jeddah only four months ago.

A letter from the Abu Sarhad labor recruitment firm
affiliated to PT Amri Margata, said her body had been in a Saudi
morgue for seven months, meaning that the body was unburied for
11 months. Strangely, we have not received any formal news from
either the Indonesian government via the Indonesian Consulate
General in Jeddah or from the Saudi government stating our
client's cause of death.

We thank the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah for
giving approval to fly the body home after we finally had
obtained the necessary papers, including those from the police,
autopsy reports and other papers from the Indonesian foreign
ministry there. Acquiring these documents proved to be
complicated due to the inability of the Indonesian Consulate
General to directly contact related institutions there.

Perhaps owing to state sovereignty, matters pertaining to
bilateral relations are always conducted through the foreign
ministry.

Yet this matter will only be settled if the Indonesian
Consulate General in Jeddah does something and the Saudi
Government is cooperative.

My questions are: Where has the equality between the two
friendly states gone? Is the Saudi government too reserved or are
the Indonesian representatives there incapable of seeking the
truth and justice in a country where many Indonesians work?

Should we leave the family members in a state of uncertainty?

As Muslims, we should not make things difficult, particularly
for those in mourning. Regarding the cause of death and its
settlement, the bereaved only asks that this be handled by the
courts and the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah.

We have sought assistance from the labor ministry, the foreign
ministry and the Riyad and Jeddah Indonesian representative
offices and the State Ministry for the Empowerment of Women. All
these attempts have failed, among others because the Cabinet was
undecided at the time.

We appeal to all related institutions to defend the rights
and justice of the weak, who must resort to trying to earn a
living in another country.

ARIFIN MOH NUR MADJID SH

Jakarta