Jakarta – Indonesian maids working overseas are still unaware of their right to report cases of abuse and other grievances to local authorities, activists say.
Activists from the Middle East and Indonesia told an regional dialog Friday that most Indonesian workers did not report unfair treatment by their employers to the police or government agencies because they were ignorant of the law.
"Very few migrants know where and how to report cases of employer abuse," said Tuful Al-Okby, a human rights activist from Saudi Arabia. "Migrant workers should have been informed that their rights are protected under the law."
She said Saudi law included human rights protections and did not discriminate against foreigners. However, only a few cases of abuse against migrant workers were legally processed every year.
The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said around a million Indonesians were currently working in Middle East countries.
About 90 percent of them are women, who work as housemaids. Each year, Indonesian embassies and non-governmental organizations in the Middle East receive thousands of reports of human rights violations.
Nana Mardiana, who established the Indonesian Migrant Workers Association (PPMI) to hear complaints from migrant workers in Mecca, said around two migrant workers reported their ill treatment to the association every day.
"About a half of the workers complain that they have not been paid by their employers, or receive less than the promised wages," he said.
"Others have been assaulted or abused sexually." Meanwhile, sociologist Ray Jureidini from the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Center at the American University in Cairo, told the Friday dialog that countries sending workers abroad should create better policies for migrants.
"Bilateral cooperation between the governments of source and destination countries is important to protect migrant workers from unfair treatment," he said.
"The migrant workers issue, particularly regarding domestic workers, is unique since it is a kind of cross-border employment system but is situated in a 'private' workplace; a family." The human rights groups agreed the Indonesian government had yet to take the necessary action to protect migrant workers.
Komnas Perempuan is cooperating with the Human Rights Institute of Saudi Arabia, the Arab World Center for Democratic Development and Human Rights of Jordan, and the Bahrain Human Rights Society to help protect migrant workers from abuse.
"We can see from the establishment of those NGOs that Middle East countries have growing concerns about human rights," Tati Krisnawaty from Komnas Perempuan said. "We see it as an opportunity to inform them about the situation of Indonesian women migrant workers there."
Jordanian Jalal Maqableh said the demand for regulations to protect migrant workers had increased in his country. "We hope to provide advocacy for migrant workers and help them to become more aware of the law in destination countries," he said.