JAKARTA (UCAN) -- The reality of being deported or abused as a migrant worker was highlighted for International Migrants Day.
"Migrant workers would find migrants' day meaningless if their rights are not protected," said Father Serafin Danny Sanusi, executive secretary of the Indonesian Catholic bishops' commission for migrants.
Speaking with UCA News on Dec. 24, the Crosier priest explained: "Many Indonesian migrant workers were deported due to the global [economic] crisis, and our government is not ready to cope with this situation."
Wahyu Susilo, who directs Migrant Care, an NGO based in Indonesia, predicts the economic crisis will result in still more migrant workers losing their jobs. "In such a situation the government should pay more attention to migrant workers," the Catholic layman remarked in a separate interview.
Susilo pointed out that around 6.5 million Indonesian migrant workers, 75 percent of them women, are now working in Malaysia and West Asia.
On Migrants Day itself, Dec. 18, about 200 activists and former migrant workers representing eight NGOs staged a rally in Jakarta. They walked 12 kilometers from the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers office to the presidential palace. There they staged a three-hour program that included speeches and a short play depicting the life of migrant workers and the violence they face.
Risma Umar, who heads Solidaritas Perempuan (women's solidarity), one of the NGOs, urged the government to quickly ratify the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and amend Indonesia's 2004 law on Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers. She argued in her speech that the law has failed to protect the workers, because many still face physical violence, sexual abuse and trafficking.
Tajuddin Ka'bah, executive director of the NGO Migrant Justice, denounced practices that violate migrant workers' rights. "Many migrant workers come from marginal groups that have no opportunity to work in their own country," he added.
Ka'bah cited data from his organization documenting that 25 Indonesian migrant workers died and 13 faced the death penalty in 2008. The data also says 3,000 were trafficked, 18,500 became illegal workers, 2,920 suffered from physical violence and 720 were raped by employers.
During the protest, the group issued a statement urging the government to stop deportation of Indonesian migrant workers as well as the trafficking and abusive working conditions that often make such work a form of "modern slavery." It also called for the government to promote strong industries in the country to create more jobs for the people and to draft a law that effectively protects migrant workers.
Haris Aritonang, who coordinated the protest, told UCA News it was "an expression of our solidarity with Indonesian migrant workers whose rights are not respected." The government, he charged, focuses more on obtaining foreign exchange instead of protecting migrant workers.
During the protest, Dede Ela, who worked in Saudi Arabia for seven years, told UCA News her employer struck her and accused her of being incapable of working. "I worked 18 hours a day. I did the laundry, cooked and took care of my employer's children. I was paid the equivalent of only 1.5 million rupiah (US$135) a month," the 36-year-old Muslim woman said.
Another former migrant worker, Swina, recounted: "I was laid off without any reason, and my employer did not pay my salary." The 23-year-old Muslim woman said she worked as a domestic helper for two years in Malaysia.
Father Sanusi clarified that his Church commission provides advocacy for migrant workers and does not directly handle cases.
It collaborates with secular NGOs, he said. But he added: "We prefer to collaborate with local Churches where the Indonesian migrant workers are placed, such as dioceses in East Malaysia and in Hong Kong. This collaboration started in 2007."
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