Moratorium for Saudi Revoked?

Rofiq Hidayat, Yanuar Pribadhie
 
Indonesia has entered into a new stage in the sending of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, 19 February, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian Government and Saudi Arabia was signed. The MoU provides favorable terms for Indonesian migrant workers to work in Saudi Arabia.
 
Under the MoU, Indonesian migrant workers will be entitled to holidays, monthly salary, and guaranteed communication access with their family in Indonesia. In addition, Indonesian migrant workers are allowed to keep their own passports. Despite these terms seeming favorable and having been advocated by many NGOs for some time, many fear that the MoU is an initial step to lift the moratorium on sending migrant workers to this Arabic country.
 
“We suspect that by executing the MoU, the Government will likely revoke the moratorium for placing Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi,” said the Executive Director of Migrant Care, Anis Hidayah.
 
Anis stated that the decision to revoke the moratorium seems to be rushed, considering that Indonesia still has much unfinished homework on this matter.  One such item is the 41 migrant workers that are facing the death penalty in Saudi. This includes Satinah who is   scheduled to be executed on the upcoming 3 April 2014, if the Government cannot pay the Diyat (compensation to the victim’s family).
 
There is also the issue of revising Indonesian manpower regulations and improving the system for placing migrant workers, which is yet to be completed. “We doubt that the MoU will have any significant effect (for Migrant Workers) if this homework remains ignored,” argues Anis.
 
Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, Member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives, is suspicious as to how  the MoU was executed considering the Government never notified its plan to do so to Commission IX.
 
According to Article 27 Law No. 39 of 2004 on Placement of Migrant Workers, Indonesian migrant workers may not be placed on foreign soil without the presence of a written agreement between the Indonesian Government and the receiving state. Normally, such agreements take the form of an MoU to ensure that the respective workers are protected during their placement.
 
Rieke added that based on her best knowledge, Indonesia did not previously have an MoU with Saudi. Additionally, there are many Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi that are now facing the death penalty without the benefit of the due process of law. “Therefore, it is important to stop sending Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi,” said Rieke.
 
This development has also caught the attention of the Indonesian Parliament.  Vice Chairman of the House - Pramono Agung stated that the House will send an official letter to the Government to ask for relevant information, specifically to the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Pramono, given that the moratorium was an initiative of the House, the Government should not have revoked the moratorium without first proper prior consultation.
 
 
(ds/kc)