Several Indonesian migrant workers in Doha, the capital of Qatar, have found sanctuary in the Indonesian Embassy, seeking physical shelter and hoping to improve their mental health. After running away from their employers, they are welcome to stay before they go back home.
There are 25,000 Indonesian workers in Qatar, according to the Indonesian Embassy. About 16,740 are low-skilled workers or maids, while the remainder are professionals and their families.
The Indonesian Embassy believes professional workers rarely encounter significant problems, as Qatar's labor law protects people employed in the formal sector.
But shady deals, unpaid salaries, miscommunication, false identities and culture clashes are standard problems for those employed in the informal sector.
Sexual abuse, violence and unwanted pregnancy outside marriage can make life even worse.
Indonesian ambassador to Qatar, Rozy Munir, told reporters that in February alone three Indonesian workers died because of suicide and heart attacks.
The embassy, which said it tries to address problems individually, has built a space for workers to stay after they "escape" from their employers. "The challenge is to get them out of this shelter as soon as possible," Rozy said
Often, the workers' passports and important documents are being held by their employers -- making the problem more complicated.
"Some of the low-skilled workers also lie about their age on their identifications," Rozy said.
Some workers stay at the shelter, also called the deportation center, for three months without any assurance of when they can fly back home. Some have no money to buy the airline ticket.
The workers sleep in separate beds inside the shelter, a large room inside the embassy.
Eti Kurniati, 28, of Lampung, said she worked for a married couple from Jordan as a maid in Qatar. She was often praised and treated well by the male employer, which made his wife jealous, Eti said.
The wife, who allegedly often pulled Eti's hair, took her passport away.
Siti Rubiati, 32, from Kendal in Central Java, said her employer in Qatar often hit her, and had not paid her salary for three months.
"I have pain in my ears because of the abuse," she said.
She ran away from her employer's house while he was at work, his wife slept and their children were at school.
The ambassador said miscommunication sometimes made the problem worse.
"The employer says "ta'al, ta'al" (come here), but the maid thinks that he's talking about rope (tali in Indonesian)," Rozy said.
While being assertive and speaking loudly is culturally acceptable in Qatar, many of the Javanese maids found such behavior rough and offensive, Rozy, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics, said.
To help solve their problems, the Indonesian Embassy tries to find third-party assistance to provide airline tickets and food at the shelter.
Rozy admitted the protection law for Indonesian workers is weak and inadequate.
Many people in Indonesia sign up as recruits without any valid identification, which creates a loophole for exploitation.
"It's hard for us to address most of the issues legally because we have no evidence of what really occurred," Rozy said.
Despite the problems, some Indonesian workers feel it is worth the hassle to work in Qatar, which has one of the highest incomes per capita in the world.
Atin Suprihatin, 28, is a nurse from Cirebon, West Java, who previously worked at a hospital in Jakarta. She has been working for a Qatari couple as a carer for the wife, who has health problems.
"I've been here for about two years and have had no issues with my employer," she told The Jakarta Post.
Atin said she found her job without the assistance of an agency.
"My family happened to know the people who employ me before I moved out. I feel like I'm in my own home here," she said.
Atin, who speaks some Arabic, said most of her friends were treated well by their employers.
"Some housemaids I know here have nice employers," she said.
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo
