Jakarta, June 14 (ANTARA) - Tension with Malaysia is yet to fully abate over the sensitive Ambalat issue, then came reports on tortured Indonesian domestic helper Siti Hajar (33), which happened amid a fuss about the Manohara Odelia Pinot saga.
Not only that, the mystery in the death of Nurul Wijayanti (27), another Indonesian domestic helper, added fuel to suspicions to employers of Indonesian maids in Malaysia.
Nurul went to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, June 11, 2009, to arrange a travel document. She intended to return home from Malaysia, a country which is a 'heaven' but could also be a 'hell' to Indonesian domestic helpers.
Instead of having a chance to return home, poor Nurul was found dead hanging in the house of her employer's mother a day later.
Nurul Wijayanti was believed to have committed suicide.
"Malaysian police are investigating Nurul's death, although there is no suspicious injuries on her body, except traces of the rope she used to hang herself," said Widyarka Ryananta, minister counselor of the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
This incident added to the sad reports on the abuse of Siti Hajar by her employer. Siti Hajar (33), a migrant worker from Limbangan, Garut, West Java, has been roughly treated while working for an ethnic Chinese family in Lanai Kiara Condominium in Kuala Lumpur.
She was reported to have been hit with a piece of wood and scolded with hot water. Unable to bear further the cruel treatment by her employer, she, who had worked there since July 2, 2006, finally fled on Monday (June 8).
Harsh response came from Indonesian officials, beginning from the House of Representatives (DPR), manpower recruitment officials, diplomats until the president. The case is even raised in the on-going presidential campaigns.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would establish an early detection system for the protection of Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) abroad. The president discussed the idea with Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia one-time chief of police Da'i Bachtiar, and the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) chief Jumhur Hidayat.
House Speaker Agung Laksono said the government must adopt a firm attitude with regard to violence often suffered by Indonesian workers (TKI) or female workers (TKW) abroad. "I think the government must take a firmer stand particularly with regard to rough treatment which exceeds the limit of humanity, including whipping and other forms of torture," Laksono said.
Referring to the long list of violence suffered by Indonesian domestic helpers in Malaysia such as that suffered by Nirmala Bonat and others, Laksono said that the government should not tolerate the Malaysian government too far. Its attitude did not reflect solidarity as a country of the same stock in handling such cases. It even tarnished the friendly relations.
"This case should be taken up at bilateral talks between the two countries," the House Speaker said.
Jumhur Hidayat, chief of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), had even suggested the government to stop the dispatch of Indonesian domestic helpers to Malaysia for one month pending the revision of the Indonesia-Malaysia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Indonesian migrant workers signed in early 2009.
In response to the proposal, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Jumhur Hidayat's proposal was a good idea. Therefore, Faizasyah said that the Indonesian government will study the impact if it stopped the sending of migrant workers to Malaysia.
"We will evaluate its possible impact on the informal sector," Faizasyah said adding that it would be better if the plan to stop the dispatch of workers was discussed with the workers who has returned from Malaysia because they could provide us with additional and valuable inputs.
The foreign ministry spokesman said that the agreement signed by the Indonesian government and its Malaysian counterpart in 2006 did not cover matters on a discontinuation of worker dispatches. It regulates the framework of placing Indonesian workers in the formal and informal sectors.
So, if there is a plan to stop sending workers, the decision to be made should involve the relevant agencies such as the manpower service. The foreign ministry already has proposals, he said, which included skill of would-be workers or those who have special skills.
After all, the supervision on workers in the informal sector is difficult to carry out. It is quite difficult to monitor a domestic violence against a domestic helper.
During a campaign in Jambi on Sunday, the JK-WIN presidential ticket also promised to give protection of Indonesian workers abroad and to stop sending domestic helpers or laborers for many years to come.
"We have prepared a short and long term program for the protection of Indonesian workers abroad," Wiranto said who is a running mate of Jusuf Kalla presidential candidate (JK-WIN) said.
He said that the shortage of job opportunities in the country had caused many Indonesians to seek a job overseas with all its consequences, including maltreatment.
"Therefore, in the short and medium term, we, if elected in the upcoming presidential polls, will reactivate Indonesian workers' representatives abroad," he said.
In the long run, he said, Indonesia is expected to stop sending blue-collar workers or domestic helpers, but only white-collar professionals.
"Thus, we hope that we would no longer be insulted and belittled as a nation. We can become a respectable nation in the world through our professional workers abroad," he said.***3*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/B003). (T.A014/A/A014/B003) 14-06-2009 23:27:46 |
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