Indonesia (see also Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

Govt urged to ratify ILO conventions

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called on the government to commit to two international conventions – ILO Conventions 97 and 143 – to better protect its nationals. The ILO's labor standards director Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry said the government should regulate and monitor recruitment agencies to monitor the conditions of its nationals working abroad. In August alone, one 24-year-old Indonesian domestic worker was found dead in Malaysia, while two others were allegedly beaten to death by a Saudi family who also severely injured two of their co-workers. Wahyu Susilo, a policy analyst of Migrant Care, said that there are some 4.5 million Indonesian workers abroad.

Regulation to protect domestic workers

The government is drafting a regulation aimed at improving and ensuring the legal protection of domestic workers. Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said the government will set out national standards for recruitment systems, job descriptions and rights of domestic workers in the regulation.

Migrant workers issue discussed in AIPA meeting

Indonesian delegates have proposed to discuss issues related to migrant workers during the 28^th session of the ASEAN Inter-Parliament Assembly (AIPA) in Kuala Lumpur on 18-24 August. Agung Laksono, head of the Indonesian delegation, said the Indonesian parliament had been disappointed with the Malaysian government's decision to allow employers to keep the worker's passport. Indonesia also disagrees with the regulation allowing employers to use physical punishment against workers. 

4 Indonesian workers maltreated in S. Arabia

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Soeparno said his ministry will cooperate with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to investigate and settle abuse against Indonesian workers abroad and criminal cases involving them. The minister made this statement when he received the relatives of four Indonesian workers who were maltreated in Saudi Arabia. The government tried to bring the bodies of two dead workers – Susmiyati and Siti Tarwiyah – before the Ramadhan fasting month. The Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh sent a diplomatic note to the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry demanding the prosecution of the abusers in accordance with the existing laws. It also requested an autopsy of the two dead workers' bodies and the repatriation of the two other workers after they had received everything entitled to them as workers. According to Manpower and Transmigration Ministry data, a total of 30 Indonesian migrant workers are facing the death penalty – six in Saudi Arabia, seven in Singapore, 16 in Malaysia and one in China.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno is scheduled to meet with the Malaysian and Saudi Arabian ambassadors to Indonesia to discuss the widespread abuse of Indonesian workers in the two countries.

In related news, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teguh Wardoyo said that Indonesia lamented Saudi Arabia's step in moving Indonesian worker Tari from a hospital to Malad City's Police Witness Protection Center in Riyadh without prior notification to the Indonesian Embassy in Saudi Arabia. There were reports that she was kidnapped by police officers from the Medical Complex Hospital and was taken to an unknown destination for interrogation. Teguh, the director for Indonesian Citizen Protection Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Tari was transferred because she had recovered. He said that another victim, Rumini, was still in the hospital because she had yet recovered from injuries.

Body of Indonesian domestic worker arrives

The remains of an Indonesian domestic worker, identified as Kunarsih, 24, found dead in her employers' house in Selangor, Malaysia on 14 August arrived in Jakarta on 18 August. The body will be sent to her hometown in Demak, Central Java the following day. Her employer, identified only as GEK, has been detained and charged with murder by the police.

Indonesia has demanded that Malaysia investigate and punish employers suspected of abusing Indonesian workers. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo said a tough stance by Malaysian authorities was urgently needed to prevent abuse against migrant workers. In 2006 alone, 21 Indonesian workers died due to abuse inflicted by their employers.

Couple who enslaved Indonesians released on bail

The millionaire couple in New York charged with forced labor and harboring undocumented migrants was released on a US$4.5-million bail on 21 August after agreeing to strict house arrest. Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, were arrested three months ago for enslaving two Indonesian domestic workers from 2002 to 2007. Varsha Sabhnani is originally from Indonesia and her husband is of Indian origin. They have denied the charges. The strict home arrest restraints include 24-hour armed guards on their property. They will wear electronic monitoring bracelets and their phone and Internet connections will be monitored by a private security firm.

Chinese arrested for visa abuse

The Jayapura immigration authorities arrested on 31 August a 31-year-old Chinese woman, identified as Jinzhu Zheng, for allegedly abusing her visit visa. She was arrested after teachers from a state junior high school in Papua reported to the Jayapura Immigration Office that the woman who does not speak Indonesian sold accessories to them. She was accompanied by her friend who escaped the scene when she was apprehended. 

N. Koreans in Indonesian Embassy-Hanoi

Five North Korean defectors have entered the compound of the Indonesian Embassy in Vietnam at around 3.30 pm on 21 August. Indonesia has sought assistance of the UNHCR to help the defectors.

Sources: Abdul Khalik, "RI demands Malaysia get tough on maid murderers," The Jakarta Post, 18 August 2007; Reuters, "Five North Koreans enter Indonesia embassy in Hanoi," The Star, 21 August 2007; "Indonesia highlights migrant worker issues in AIPA meeting," The Jakarta Post, 21 August 2007; "Five N.Korean asylum seekers enter Indonesian embassy in Hanoi," Bernama.com, 22 August 2007; "RI asks UNHCR to help North Korean defectors," The Jakarta Post, 22 August 2007; AP, "New York couple accused of keeping Indonesian slaves granted bail," The Jakarta Post, 23 August 2007; "Government to draft law on housemaid rights," The Jakarta Post, 23 August 2007; "RI worker missing from Saudi hospital," The Jakarta Post, 23 August 2007; "Remains of RI maid arrives in Jakarta from Malaysia," The Jakarta Post, 23 August 2007; Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, "RI told to ratify migrant worker conventions," The Jakarta Post, 25 August 2007; "Government to settle all Indonesia migrant workers' cases abroad," Bernama.com, 29 August 2007; "Saudi Arabia to settle fatally maltreated RI migrant workers' case soon," The Jakarta Post, 29 August 2007; "Chinese national arrested for visa violation," The Jakarta Post, 31 August 2007; "RI regrets Saudi Arabia's action in Indonesia worker's case," The Jakarta Post, 25 August 2007