ID :
101729
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 09:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101729
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THOUSANDS OF INDONESIAN WORKERS IN MID EAST NOT PAID
Jakarta, Jan 21 (ANTARA) - About eighty percent of 2,116 troubled migrant workers who had returned to Indonesia from the Middle East had stopped working because they had not been receiving their salaries, an official said.
"We are doing our best to get their rights met. If their (former) employers refuse to pay them, the Indonesian embassies and consulate generals will report their employees to the police," Teguh Wardoyo said.
However, the total amount of the unpaid salaries was not yet known because the number of migrant workers reporting their cases kept rising, Wardoyo, the Foreign Ministry`s director for protecting Indonesian people and entities, said.
Speaking to reporters when welcoming the arrival of a group of troubled migrant workers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport`s terminal here Wednesday night, he said some Indonesian workers also got sexual abuses from their employers.
"Besides the unpaid salaries, about ten other percents get sexual abuses and the other ten percents get physical violence from their employers," he said.
The government had flown 2,116 troubled migrant workers in the Middle Eastern countries, such as United Arab Emirate, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Qatar, back from October 27, 2009 to January 19, 2010.
Despite the fact that the number had exceeded the government`s target of only 1,325 employees for three months, 50 other problematic workers remained in Abu Dhabi (UAE)
On Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for the People`s Welfare Agung Laksono said repatriating the problematic workers from the Middle Eastern countries was the government`s commitment to meet a target of its 100-day program.
Indonesia, he said, had been doing its best to minimize the number of problematic migrant workers by improving the recruitment and protection system.
One of the things that caused migrant workers to eventually meet problems abroad was the misconduct of people who had recruited the workers in their hometowns, such as the issuance of false identity cards, he said.
Indonesian workers do not only fill the casual workforce markets in many Middle Eastern countries but also in Asia, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong (China).
In Malaysia, more than a million Indonesians were working in such sectors as construction and plantations.
end
"We are doing our best to get their rights met. If their (former) employers refuse to pay them, the Indonesian embassies and consulate generals will report their employees to the police," Teguh Wardoyo said.
However, the total amount of the unpaid salaries was not yet known because the number of migrant workers reporting their cases kept rising, Wardoyo, the Foreign Ministry`s director for protecting Indonesian people and entities, said.
Speaking to reporters when welcoming the arrival of a group of troubled migrant workers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport`s terminal here Wednesday night, he said some Indonesian workers also got sexual abuses from their employers.
"Besides the unpaid salaries, about ten other percents get sexual abuses and the other ten percents get physical violence from their employers," he said.
The government had flown 2,116 troubled migrant workers in the Middle Eastern countries, such as United Arab Emirate, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Qatar, back from October 27, 2009 to January 19, 2010.
Despite the fact that the number had exceeded the government`s target of only 1,325 employees for three months, 50 other problematic workers remained in Abu Dhabi (UAE)
On Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for the People`s Welfare Agung Laksono said repatriating the problematic workers from the Middle Eastern countries was the government`s commitment to meet a target of its 100-day program.
Indonesia, he said, had been doing its best to minimize the number of problematic migrant workers by improving the recruitment and protection system.
One of the things that caused migrant workers to eventually meet problems abroad was the misconduct of people who had recruited the workers in their hometowns, such as the issuance of false identity cards, he said.
Indonesian workers do not only fill the casual workforce markets in many Middle Eastern countries but also in Asia, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong (China).
In Malaysia, more than a million Indonesians were working in such sectors as construction and plantations.
end
