Refleksi : Di Malaysia ada ucapan "indon" untuk pekerja atau orang Indonesia, 
diberitakan bahwa kata "indon" ini mempunyai arti negatif. Apakah Anda 
mengetahui istilah untuk orang Indonesia yang dipakai oleh orang Arab Saudia?

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-saudi-labor-ties-in-question-after-maids-death/407570

Indonesian, Saudi Labor Ties in Question After Maid's Death
Camelia Pasandaran, Nurfika Osman & Anita Rachman | November 20, 2010

 
Indonesian Minister of Labour and Transmigration Muhaimin Iskandar, right, 
shakes hands with Saudi Arabian Ambassador for Indonesia Abdulrahman Alkhayat 
before a meeting over Indonesian migrant domestic worker, Sumiati binti Salan 
Mustapa in Jakarta on Friday. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry) 


Jakarta. With the public still seething over the alleged torture of Sumiati, an 
Indonesian maid working in Saudi Arabia, reports on Friday that another 
Indonesian maid had been murdered in the Gulf state prompted President Susilo 
Bambang Yudhoyono to call for a full review into conditions for Indonesians 
working abroad. 

The president described the reported murder of the maid, identified as Kikim 
Komalasari, from Cianjur, West Java, as "beyond inhumane." 

"We need to review all cooperation agreements with other countries, mainly with 
Saudi Arabia," Yudhoyono said before an emergency cabinet meeting called to 
discuss the issue. "Steps must be taken." 

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said Kikim, 36, who had 
been working in the city of Abha since June 2009, had died from injuries caused 
by physical abuse. 

Sumiati has been hospitalized in Medina since Nov. 8 after suffering severe 
cuts to her lips, believed to have been made with scissors, as well as internal 
injuries from repeated beatings. 

With that issue still running hot, Muhaimin on Friday confirmed Kikim's body 
had been found on Thursday in a dumpster in Abha, about 600 kilometers south of 
Jeddah. 

The death could not have come at a worse time for relations between Indonesia 
and Saudi Arabia. As commentators were railing against the Sumiati incident, 
the Saudi ambassador to Indonesia was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and a small but vocal group of protesters gathered outside its embassy. 

The cases highlight growing public awareness of the hardships faced by about 
3.2 million migrant workers, more than a third of whom work in the Middle East. 
Activists have long complained that Indonesia lags behind other labor exporters 
when it comes to protecting its workers. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said Saudi Arabia did not have a 
memorandum of understanding with Indonesia regarding migrant workers. "We will 
try to convince them that this is needed," he said. 

Problems encountered by migrant workers in Malaysia and Jordan have led to 
frequent moratoriums on sending workers to those countries, but they are 
frequently violated. 

Yudhoyono said an agreement with Saudi Arabia would be a prerequisite for 
sending more workers there. 

He also complained that reports of maltreatment often came too late, as had 
happened in the two latest cases. 

"We're planning to give cellphones to all migrant workers," he said. "That way, 
at least, we can communicate instantly." 

Muhaimin said a moratorium on sending workers to Saudi Arabia might be 
necessary in light of the recent abuse cases. "To stop sending migrant workers 
is one effective way to eradicate abuse, but we have not reached a final 
decision," he said. 

Indonesian consular officials in Saudi Arabia, he added, are currently 
gathering information on both Kikim and Sumiati's cases. 

Suhartono, a Labor Ministry spokesman, said a team was also being sent to 
Cianjur to meet with Kikim's family, and that the labor supply company that had 
sent Kikim to Saudi Arabia had adequate insurance to cover compensation. 

The minister for women's empowerment, Linda Amalia Sari, also left for Saudi 
Arabia on Friday to discuss the abuse cases with Saudi authorities. 

"We intend to make a bilateral agreement regarding the protection of migrant 
workers with the Saudi Arabian government," she said before leaving. "But we 
also need to fix the problems in our own country, since 80 percent of the root 
of the problem is here." 

She said illegal migration and inadequate training before departure contributed 
to the plight of migrant workers.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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