SIXTY INDONESIAN WORKERS DETAINED IN JORDAN

Jakarta, July 3 (ANTARA) - Sixty Indonesian migrant workers are being detained in Jordan for involvement in various cases, a diplomat said.

The 60 were part of the 414 problematic Indonesian workers who were to be sent home soon, Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan Zainul Bahar Noor said here on Thursday.

"The cases of the 60 workers vary. Some of them violated their stay permits while others were reported (to security agencies) by their employers on charges of theft," he said.

Accusing the workers of theft was one of the employers' strategies not to pay their salaries, he said.

"Only a few workers are involved in the case. Their number accounts for nearly 20 percent of the detained workers," he said.

The ambassador said the Jordanian government was prepared to pardon the detained workers in order to facilitate their deportation to Indonesia.

He further said one Indonesian worker was being hospitalized after being tortured by her employer.

"Luckily, her employer was ready to drive her to the Indonesian Embassy in Yemen for medical treatment," he said.

He called for the revision of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on the dispatch of migrant workers to better resolve any problem related to Indonesian migrant workers employed in the Middle Eastern country.

"Hopefully, the revision of the memorandum of understanding will be included in the agenda of amendment to the Jordanian labour law which is now under deliberation," he said.