This was stated by Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Marzuki Alie recently. He was making a statement in the house on the reports about the alleged torture of Indonesian maid Sumiati Salan Mustapa by her Saudi employer in Madinah.

The case of Sumiati has now become a major public issue in Indonesia. This was after the issue was blown out of proportion by the Indonesian media by inciting hatred against Saudi Arabia. They tried to create a wrong impression that such a case, even though it is an isolated one, is part of the usual treatment being meted out to their citizens in the Kingdom. The campaign was so intense and hostile that it has forced even top Indonesian officials to take positions tantamount to the public temperament and come out with statements similar to the aforesaid one made by none other than the house speaker.  

Most of the demands made through the Indonesian media or those addressed to the Saudi Embassy in Jakarta focused on bringing those allegedly involved in torturing the maid to justice and handing them exemplary punishment.

This demand of Indonesians is similar to that of the Saudi government and people. It is noteworthy that Saudi media gave very good coverage to the housemaid’s story. The stories, carried by local dailies, showed sympathy toward the maid and made calls to punish those behind her torture. It is worthy to note that the Saudi woman who was allegedly involved in torturing her has been arrested and sent to jail prior to vindicating her in the charge sheet being framed by the concerned investigative agencies.

The act of making available the dreadful picture of the housemaid, who is undergoing treatment in a Madinah hospital, to the media is also a telling example of the Saudi authorities’ good intention in bringing the perpetrators of torture to justice. If we had any intention to let the criminals go unpunished we would have been prevented from taking and publicizing pictures of this poor woman.

An overwhelming majority of Indonesians working in the Kingdom are domestic staff. We don’t know precisely the real stories of these maids, whether they are leading happy lives or sad ones. It is very difficult for any agencies to know the exact picture of the condition in which they have been living and the type of treatment they receive.

As a first step to solving their problems I demand the Indonesian Embassy sets up a toll-free hot line exclusively for receiving cases of torture and violence, as well as to seek the help of the authorities in case of such situations. They can also introduce a mandatory system under which each domestic worker should contact the embassy after three months of their arrival in the Kingdom in order to give a report about their conditions. This is the ideal thing to do while addressing this problem — unless the embassy and the Indonesian government had a dubious goal in inciting this issue with an eye on earning more revenue through another hike in recruitment fees.

The Indonesian government should seriously make up its mind and work toward solving problems of its citizens rather than creating clamor and confusion.