Reports have been circulating that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have worked out their differences and have removed the obstacles preventing the return of Indonesian maids to the Kingdom.
"These reports are merely rumors. There is no agreement between the two countries in this regard," the Indonesian diplomat told the Dammam-based local Arabic daily Al-Sharq yesterday.
The consul explained that the political freedom in his country has obliged the government to interact with the demands of the Indonesian manpower working abroad to ensure their rights in the countries in which they work.
"The government has to support the demands of overseas workers so as to avoid chaos and havoc inside the country," he added.
The consul, however, made it clear that Indonesia would not mind the return of Indonesian maids to the Kingdom if Riyadh agreed to the terms and conditions set out previously to ensure their rights, foremost of which was a work contract.
The consul explained that what was agreed upon with the Saudi side so far was concerning the general features of the basic human rights as stipulated in the Human Rights Charter.
"This happened about two weeks ago during an international conference on human rights which was held in Indonesia," he added.
The consul pointed out that agreements were reached on a number of pacts that would be applied on housemaids working in various countries of the world and not limited to the Indonesian housemaids alone.
The consul said it was up to the labor ministers and the authorities concerned in the two countries to arrive at a formula that was acceptable to both sides and would resolve the stalemate on the issue.
"Indonesia is willing to reopen recruitment of housemaids to work in the Kingdom if the rights of the housemaids are protected under a crystal-clear work contract," he said.
According to him, about 90 percent of the Indonesian manpower in the Kingdom are housemaids. "Before the stoppage of recruitment, there were 1.2 million Indonesian housemaids and drivers working in the Kingdom," he said.
The consul admitted that the cases of violation of personal rights and violence concerning Indonesian housemaids in Saudi Arabia were little compared to the large number of Indonesian workers. "There were only 10,000 such cases. Considering the total number of Indonesian manpower in the Kingdom which is 1.2 million, this is very low," he said.
