RIYADH, 1 November 2003 — Some 60 Indonesian maids will be repatriated to Jakarta in the next few days amid growing protests from a number of Indonesian NGOs about the treatment of maids in the Gulf.
“Nearly 60 maids will be repatriated to Indonesia in a few days,” said Tumpal Martua Hutasuhut, head of consular affairs at the Indonesian Embassy here on Thursday.
“Last year, 3,610 maids who filed harassment claims against their employers were sent back to Indonesia after they ran away and took shelter at a safe house belonging to the embassy,” Tumpal said.
The diplomat said a number of NGOs in Indonesia protested against the growing number of abuse and maltreatment cases. They include Nahdhatul Ulema (NU), the Center for Indonesian Immigrant Workers, the Forum for Indonesian Migrant Workers (FWBMI), Konsorsium Pembela Buruh Migran Indonesia and the Committee Advocacy for Indonesian Migrant Workers.
A migrant workers’ institute affiliated with NU has called on the Indonesian government to immediately terminate the export of female workers to the Middle East.
A 19-member strong NU team has urged the government at least to establish bilateral ties with countries receiving Indonesian workers, mostly in the Middle East, and dispatch more labor attaches and police liaison officers to handle cases involving workers,” an NU report said. NU is considered the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia with 40 million members.
Tumpal said many migrant workers, especially maids, suffer harassment, violence and sexual abuse. But he said 60 percent of cases of runaway maids involved unpaid salaries and only five percent involved sexual abuse at the hands of the employers.
Asked about changes in Indonesia’s visa policy, Tumpal said new visa restrictions for Saudis would come into force tentatively from January next year. But he added the visa process for Saudis would remain simple.
He said some 60,000 Saudis travel to Indonesia every year.
The Indonesian government is also considering granting some countries a visa-on-arrival facility within the framework of the new visa policy.
Jakarta’s decision to revamp visa policy is aimed at checking the misuse of the old visa policy, which allows citizens of a number of countries to enter the country without visas.
The new visa policy, which was initially scheduled to take effect this October, excludes visitors from 10 countries in Asia.
