Refkleksi: Memang bernasib keluarga sial di negerinya, di negeri asing pun disialkan pula. Penderitaan hidup para TKW ini sangat disayangkan tidak mendapat perhatian pembelaan masyarakat maupun pemerintah NKRI, bila dibandingkan dengan masalah seperti Palestina atau Lebanon. Mungkin saja para petinggi negara dan para tokoh organisasi keagamaan terkait dalam keuntungan pengiriman TKW dan oleh karena itu mereka membungkam seribu bahasa terhadap penderitaan TKW?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=100412&d=25&m=8&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom Saturday, 25, August, 2007 (11, Sha`ban, 1428) Second Indonesian Maid Taken for Questioning Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News RIYADH, 25 August 2007 - The second Indonesian housemaid allegedly beaten by her employers has been taken into police custody after being released from the Riyadh Medical Complex (RMC) Hospital on Wednesday, an Indonesian Embassy official told Arab News yesterday. "On recovery, Ruminih Surtim, 25, who was convalescing at the RMC, has been taken by the police," said Adi Dzul Fuat, vice consul at the Indonesian Embassy. Tari Tarsim, 27, the second of two maids who survived an assault that claimed the lives of two other Indonesian maids, was taken into police custody on Monday. Seven members of the family that the maids were working for are also in police custody. The embassy has not been granted access to the surviving women, and the bodies of the other two are also still in the custody of Saudi officials. "We came to know about Ruminih's discharge only from the hospital authorities," Adi said, stressing that the mission would take up this matter today. The Indonesian Embassy has been asking Saudi authorities to allow them access to the two Indonesian nationals. Adi said that Ruminih is under mental stress after a member of the family that employed the four maids beat her and the others severely because the Saudi man - one of the sons of the family - believed they were performing black magic on him. "She is afraid to talk to people out of severe shock due to merciless beatings," said Adi. "She will regain confidence only if she can meet some people from her country and speak to her in her own language." The vicious attack two weeks ago on four maids working for the same employers in Aflaj in the Riyadh region resulted in the death of Siti Tarwiyah Slamet, 32, and Susmiyati Abdul Fulan, 28. Tari and Ruminih were left severely injured in the incident. They were treated at the intensive care unit of Aflaj General Hospital and then were transferred last week to the Riyadh hospital where they were under 24-hour police guard. Tari came to the Kingdom in early January, while Ruminih has been in the Kingdom since October last year. The maids have been denied access to visitors and legal consultation. The embassy has not yet been given a copy of the medical report or allowed access to pictures of the victims. "We respect the laws of the host country, but we are compelled to take up the matter with the Saudi authorities on humanitarian grounds. There is also persistent pressure from the relatives of the victims," said Adi. "After all, the mission is meant to look after the interests of its countrymen in the Kingdom." Adi says the embassy needs to be granted permission by the two women to acquire power of attorney for any trial that would ensue in this case. Nasser Al-Dandani, a lawyer hired by the embassy to follow up on the case, says that not allowing embassy officials to visit the two maids and failure to inform the embassy of the two maids' deaths without delay are in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963. "Denying the maids legal consultation is in violation of Investigation and Public Prosecution Procedures in Saudi Arabia, which states that every accused has the right to have a lawyer present during questioning and to have legal representation," said Al-Dandani. An autopsy has been carried out on the bodies of Siti Tarwiyah Slamet and Susmiyati Abdul Fulan. However, the embassy personnel have not been permitted to see the bodies. Adi hoped that the two bodies would be repatriated to Indonesia as soon as the investigation is over and that the two surviving maids, who have suffered physical and emotional distress, are allowed to return to Indonesia as soon as possible. Adi said that the families of the deceased have requested the mission send the bodies home. Relatives of the four victims, along with workers' rights activists, staged a protest outside the Saudi Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday.
