Abused Hong Kong maid Erwiana 'rises again'

Yahoo - AFP, Agus Purwanto, 28 September 2018

Erwiana now works on behalf of migrant workers

She was once the face of abused maids in Hong Kong -- imprisoned, starved and beaten so badly she lost control of her bodily functions.

But four years after her horrific ordeal made global headlines, Indonesian Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is a university graduate and fighting for the rights of domestic helpers in the southern Chinese city and beyond.

Erwiana completed a degree in economics this month -- the culmination of a dream that brought her to Hong Kong in 2013 before her life was turned upside down.

"Before I went to Hong Kong, I had been dreaming I could make enough money to study," the 27-year-old told AFP from her home in Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta.

"After the incident, I thought I might have to give up on that dream."

Erwiana's employer Law Wan-tung was jailed after pictures of her extensive injuries went viral in 2014.

Widespread media coverage of Erwiana's torture had one unexpected benefit -- she was offered scholarships to study.

"I'm happy but it's bittersweet because even though I graduated university there are still many migrant workers who are persecuted and treated badly," she said.

She chose economics partly to understand "why so many people in this world have to migrate" for work.

"People should be able to live peacefully in their own country without having to work abroad unprotected," she said.

Erwiana plans to take that message to demonstrations outside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Bali next month.

Erwiana's horrific ordeal made global headlines

She now works on behalf of migrant workers, including pushing for the release of former Filipina maid Mary Jane Veloso who is on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling.

Most domestic workers in Hong Kong are from poor communities in Indonesia and the Philippines and are vulnerable to abuse by employers and employment agencies.

Migrants from both countries have also suffered injury -- or worse -- in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

In February, the death of a Filipina maid in Kuwait, whose body was found this year stuffed in a freezer, sparked outrage in the Philippines.

Also this year, Indonesian domestic helper Adelina Sau died in hospital after being rescued from her employer's house in Malaysia's Penang state, with wounds covering her body. Her boss was charged with murder.

It is these stories that prompted Erwiana to fight for workers' rights, and never give up on herself even when she doubted her chances.

"I never imagined I'd be here -- I almost gave up," she said.

"I was so sick, I was a failed migrant worker and my injuries were all over the media.

"But because my family and fellow migrant worker friends gave me strength, I finally had the spirit to rise again."

VIDEO: A former Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was imprisoned, starved and beaten so badly she lost control of her bodily functions. But four years later, she now fights for the rights of domestic helpers around the world https://t.co/RYY89JL6rA pic.twitter.com/kn1yXP9R6y

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 28, 2018

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih arrives at the Wanchai Law Courts to begin giving

 evidence against her former employer who is accused of abuse and torture, in

Hong Kong on Monday. (AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

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Indonesian maid to return to Hong Kong to help torture probe

Jokowi to Scrap ID Card for Indonesian Migrant Workers

Malaysian Employers Puzzled by Indonesia's New Rule on Live-In Maids

Jakarta Globe, June 01, 2016

Indonesian maids relaxing on their day off in Victoria Park, Hong Kong in this
 November 2012 file photo. In the wake of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's
move to step up protection of Indonesian domestic workers abroad, several
 of the affected countries have been trying to resolve issues of employer
responsibilities and maid's welfare. (JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno)

Jakarta. In the wake of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's move to step up protection of Indonesian domestic workers abroad, several of the affected countries have been trying to resolve issues of employer responsibilities and maids' welfare.

Last month, Indonesia announced a ruling that will stop women from working as live-in maids in foreign countries, including Malaysia. The new ruling also requires domestic workers abroad to enter into formal contracts with their employers.

"Once the maids become formal workers, their employers will no longer have to take care of their lodgings, security and other things. They have to take care of all their expenses [themselves], and whatever happens to them has nothing to do with their employers," Malaysian Maid Employers Association president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein, as reported by Malaysian news outlet Bernama on Wednesday (01/06).

He added that if the domestic help sector was formalized, the current high recruitment costs for maids must be lowered.

According to the report, the government has set recruitment costs for Indonesian maids at 7,800 ringgit ($1,800), but agents have been charging employers as high as 12,000 ringgit, with an additional annual levy of 600 ringgit and a medical examination costing 100 ringgit.

Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, president of the Malaysian National Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap), meanwhile stated that the plan would have social implications and cause more complications between the two countries.

He suggested that the government should consider only allowing 50 to 100 reliable and financially strong agencies to control the hiring process. According to him, these agencies would be able to provide housing and other services for the domestic workers.

"I understand that around 350,000 employment agencies are registered with the government, while there are another 27,000 that are unregistered. These agencies should be responsible for the welfare of the maids as they have the capacity to provide them with the maximum protection," the Pikap president told Bernama.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also stated that the plan would affect the Malaysian economy, as it could force many women out of the workforce, or even result in men having to become stay-at-home dads.

"In many households, both parents work so they need live-in maids to help them. So without live-in maids, it will only force the women to leave the workforce and stay home," the minister told the Malaymail Online news outlet last month.

According to Migrant Care data, there were 6,5 million Indonesians working abroad in 2014, with 2,5 million of them employed in Malaysia mainly as maids, construction workers and laborers.

Higher wages in store for foreign caregivers in Taiwan

Want China Times, CNA 2015-08-30

Foreign caregivers at a park in Taipei, March 30. (Photo/Fang Chun-che)

Foreign caregivers planning to work in Taiwan will receive a monthly wage of NT$17,000 (US$525) beginning on Sept. 1, the country's labor minister Chen Hsiung-wen announced on Friday.

That represents an increase of NT$1,160 (US$35), or 7.32%, from the current monthly wage of NT$15,840 (US$490), which has been the fixed rate for the past 18 years.

In contrast to the minimum monthly wage of NT$20,008 (US$617.34) for workers in Taiwan, which has increased 26% during the period, Chen said the 7.32% raise was reasonable.

Foreign nationals working as domestic caregivers in Taiwan are not covered under Taiwan's Labor Standards Act and therefore not entitled to the statutory minimum wage.

The higher monthly wage will only be applied, however, to new applicants from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and not to those already working in Taiwan.

With the monthly pay for migrant domestic helpers in Hong Kong and Macau at NT$16,530 (US$510), Taiwan hopes that the wage increase can attract quality domestic helpers to work in the country, Chen said, after a meeting with officials from the four Southeast Asian countries earlier in the day.

Indonesia and the Philippines, the two countries that provide the most migrant domestic helpers in Taiwan, have pressed Taiwan for months to increase the wages for their workers to NT$17,500 (US$540) per month, and have been holding back new workers from employers unwilling to pay that amount.

It was not immediately clear if the new wage settled the differences between Taiwan and the two countries.

But Agusdin Subiantoro, deputy director of Indonesia's National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, told CNA on Thursday that Indonesia and Taiwan had reached the agreement to increase migrant caregivers' pay to NT$17,000 (US$525) after rounds of negotiations.

Groups of manpower brokers called for the ministry on Friday afternoon to require incoming migrant workers to have HIV/AIDS testing and pregnancy tests done.

But the Labor Ministry said that considering international human rights conventions and workplace gender equality, those tests should not be requirements for those workers.

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Indonesia Proposes 50% Salary Hike for Migrant Maids in Malaysia

Red Tape Encumbers Families of Indonesian Migrant Workers: CIPS Study

Jakarta Globe, 21 Aug 2015

Indonesian migrant workers sent some $8 billion in remittance to their families

 in the first half of last year, according to the Center for Indonesian Policy 

Studies. (Antara Photo/Hafidz Mubarak)

Jakarta. A study by an Indonesian non-profit policy center is urging the government to simplify the procedure for Indonesian migrant workers to go abroad after it was discovered that massive red tape only lead to troubles for the workers and potential income loss for their villages.

The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies [CIPS] revealed a study on Thursday titled "Reducing Financial Burdens of Indonesian Migrant Workers," written by CIPS board member Arianto A. Patunru and Rofi Uddarojat, policy researcher.

The study found that 400,000 Indonesians had left their villages in 2014 to work abroad.

That same year, migrant workers (TKI) sent some $8 billion in funds to their respective families and to aid the development of their villages. The cash was used for education, housing, consumption and starting small businesses, the study found.

The amount is significantly higher than Indonesia's foreign direct investment (FDI) and overseas development assistance (ODA).

According to data from Indonesia's central bank, remittances from migrant workers grew 15.5 percent to $3.12 billion in this year's January-April period, compared to $2.63 billion in the same period last year.

The funds came from 1.5 million migrant workers in the formal sector and 2.2 million workers in the non formal sector.

World Bank estimated that remittances sent by migrant workers reduced Indonesia's poverty race to 26.7 percent through 2000 to 2007. However, the regulations set by the government  ̶  initially meant to protect the workers  ̶  have negative consequences and implementations.

"Government procedures for the recruitment and protection of migrant workers could take up to four months. The lengthy duration causes substantial income losses," the study said.

Rofi said that the government needs to recognize the financial contributions of migrant workers to equitable economic growth and village prosperity.

"Their remittances provide opportunities for the education of children and the development of local businesses," he said in a statement.

According to Rofi, complex and lengthy bureaucratic procedures place an excessive burden on poor and unskilled workers.

"The [procedures] also make them vulnerable to the exploitative practices of recruitment brokers and agents," he said.

The study revealed that the procedures include hefty charges of up to $600, indirectly borne by the workers themselves.

According to the study, bureaucratic obstacles do not protect migrant workers. In fact, from 2011 to 2013, only 0.5 percent of Indonesian migrant workers reported physical violence or sexual abuse abroad. Therefore, the government's unnecessary procedures would only create challenges for these workers.

The study urged the government to cancel the moratorium on sending workers to 21 countries in the Middle East which was issued in May.

"This policy will lead to annual losses of $3 billion in income for rural areas and it will encourage illegal migration," the study revealed.

CIPS' study also called on the state to drop the requirement of submitting a permission letter by heads of the migrants' households as all the migrants are adults and there has been no proof to support that these letters help reduce human trafficking.

CIPS has also asked state-run health care centers [Puskesmas] to conduct health checks for migrant workers to simplify the mandatory procedure.

The study also urged the government to cut mandatory training for the workers to four weeks.

GlobeAsia

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Telkom Supports Jokowi’s “E-Blusukan” with Migrant Workers in 8 Countries

President Joko Widodo leads the “E-Blusukan” with Indonesian
Migrant Workers (TKI) that are stationed in 8 differents parts
of the world.

Joko to Scrap Indonesian Language Requirement for Foreign Workers

Jakarta Globe, 21 Aug 2015

A 2013 manpower ministry regulation requires foreign workers 'to be able to

 communicate in Indonesian,' but stops short of defining the level of proficiency

 the worker need to achieve in order to secure a working permit. (Antara Photo/

Dhoni Setiawan)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo will drop a regulation that would require foreign workers to take an Indonesian language proficiency test, as part of his effort to brush up the country’s investment appeal.

The president has instructed his aides to eliminate all regulatory barriers in the central and regional administration that could hampers investment, cabinet secretary Pramono Anung said on Friday.

“It was asked specifically by the president to drop the Indonesian language proficiency requirement for foreign workers... to ensure the flow of investment,” he said.

Under a 2009 law on national language, the flag and national symbols, all locally-based businesses are required to use Indonesian as their main language of communication. The law also requires foreigners working in the country to take Indonesian language lessons.

A 2013 manpower ministry regulation requires foreign workers “to be able to communicate in Indonesian," but stops short of defining the level of proficiency they would need to achieve in order to secure working permit.

Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri had proposed in January to require all foreign workers to pass a standardized test for Indonesian language in order protect domestics jobs from a potential inflow of workers from neighboring countries as the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's Economic Community becomes effective next year.

The proposal met strong opposition from foreign and local investors alike, who were quick to point out that the severe lack of Indonesian study centers for foreigners would hamper their search for highly skilled workers, who they say are crucial for their businesses.

Indonesia attracted $6.8 billion of foreign direct investment outside the banking and petroleum sectors in the first half of 2015, a 18 percent rise from the same period last year, data from the Investment Coordinating Agency showed.

Investor Daily

Indonesia Proposes 50% Salary Hike for Migrant Maids in Malaysia

Jakarta Globe, May 31, 2015

Women training to be domestic workers abroad take part in an infant care exercise
at a training center in Semarang, Central Java. (JG Photo/Dhana Kencana)

Jakarta. The Indonesian government is proposing a 50 percent increase in the minimum wage for its citizens employed as domestic workers in Malaysia.

Hermono, the charge d’affaires at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said his office had submitted the proposal to the Malaysian government, where it will be discussed at an upcoming cabinet meeting.

The Indonesian government is seeking an increase of the monthly minimum wage from the current 800 ringgit ($219) to 1,200 ringgit.

“This is indeed our proposal. Malaysia has determined that it will be brought to a cabinet meeting. Now we are waiting for Malaysia’s response,” Hermono said as quoted by news portal Detik.com.

There are an estimated two million Indonesians in Malaysia, employed mostly as domestic workers or manual laborers.

Hong Kong's domestic workers 'treated worse than the dogs'

Many of the hundreds of thousands of migrant domestic workers looking for a better life in Hong Kong end up exposed to abuse at the hands of their employers. Zigor Aldama reports with three women's stories.

Deutsche Welle, 8 Mar 2015

Kamsiah (pictured above) was one of the 334,000 foreign domestic workers registered in Hong Kong. She is also one of the many who have suffered abuses at work. At 41, she left her hometown in Indonesia to work her way to a better life. However, she found herself in a nightmare.

"This is the second time I have worked in Hong Kong, and with my previous employers I had no problems," she said. "But this family treated me worse than their five dogs."

Kamsiah said she had to sleep with the animals and was barely fed with a daily bowl of rice with some vegetables. The pets, however, received all kinds of care from five o'clock in the morning.

"I had to get up at that hour to walk them," she said. "Then I would prepare breakfast, clean the house, do laundry, make lunch, do shopping, hang and iron the clothes, cook dinner, and then the lady would ask me to give her massages until the wee hours of the morning."

No money, no passport, no options

All that for a meager HK$3,920 ($500, 466 euros) a month, from which she had to foot the HK$2,543 fee the agency charged her during her first six months on the job.

Without passports or money, there are few places foreign workers
can go to escape abusive employers

"I escaped because they made me sign my paycheck, but refused to give me the money," she said. "I could not take it anymore."

It was almost midnight when Kamsiah took refuge in a McDonald's, one of the few places open 24 hours. "I had no money or documents because the passport was being held by the agency. I desperately waited until another Indonesian appeared," she said. "She told me about an NGO that provides assistance to domestic helpers and I went to them."

But her difficulties had only just begun as she was later arrested by the police. The family that had employed her accused her of stealing a wallet containing HK$7,300. Now, after proving her innocence, Kamsiah has filed a lawsuit for labor exploitation against her former employers.

She's not the only one. Until recently this situation went unnoticed to most Hong Kong citizens, but a particularly violent case has brought it out of the shadows. In January last year, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih showed that Kamsiah's was not an isolated case.

Case reopens debate in Hong Kong

Also an Indonesian, Sulistyaningsih was taken to the airport by her employers and forced to return to her country with just 100,000 Indonesian rupiah (around $8) in her pockets. "Do not even think about saying anything of what has happened in Hong Kong, because we will kill your parents!" they threatened.

With one day off per week, many foreign workers gather to meet in Hong Kong parks

Immigration officials let her leave without asking any questions - despite her broken nose, several missing teeth and bruises all over her body. Upon her arrival, doctors in Indonesia ordered her immediate admission to a hospital where they discovered that she had suffered brain damage due to repeated blows to the head.

On February 10, a Hong Kong court found her employer, Law Wan-tung, guilty of 18 separate charges of abuse, for which she will serve six years in prison. This case reopened the debate on the employment and living conditions faced by foreign domestic workers.

Protection laws go unenforced

"The problem is that the law itself discriminates against migrants working as maids in Hong Kong," said Mabel Au, Amnesty International's China director. "First there is the obligation of living with those who employ them, and, secondly, a rule stipulating that if they do not get a job in the two weeks following the termination of their previous contract they should leave the city. But the worst is that laws theoretically passed to protect these women from abuse are not implemented."

Au said an intricate web of mafia-like organizations profit from those women thanks to a lack of supervision by government authorities.

Grace said she didn't see any options other than signing a work contract

Labor exploitation starts when workers have to sink themselves in debt to pay large amounts of money to agents and continues when they arrive in Hong Kong where, by law, agencies arranging employment for them can only charge 10 percent of the first month's salary as service fee. That's about HK$401.

"In fact, the amount ends up being much higher," Au said. "Most of the girls are scared and have little information about legal formalities. They sign their contracts in a language they don't understand - Chinese and English - and have no idea how the sector works."

Left with nothing but debts

Such practices, Au added, mean the foreign workers are often paid less than the minimum wage and unable to report how they are ripped off by agencies and employers. The workers' passports are also confiscated upon arrival "leaving them vulnerable and fully exposed to abuse."

Grace knows that well. Originally from the Philippines, she signed a labor contract to work in Hong Kong but her employer's family sent her illegally to Dalian, in northeastern China. Without her passport and unable to speak any Chinese, she didn't know what to do, so she signed a work contract. After having worked there for a while, the employers refused to pay her and sent her back to Hong Kong with just 200 RMB ($32, 30 euros) in hand.

She has filed a lawsuit against the family who employed her, but said she's not very optimistic about the outcome. Grace said doesn't think she will be able to pay the 40,000 pesos ($903, 832 euro) in debts she contracted in the Philippines with the employment agency.

Indonesia to gradually stop sending domestic workers to abroad

Want China Times, CNA 2015-02-28

An Indonesia domestic worker and the elderly man she cares for at a
Chinese New Year event, Feb. 8. (File photo/Yang Han-sheng)

Indonesia plans to begin measures to stop sending domestic workers to Taiwan in 2017, as the Southeast Asian country is moving forward with a plan to stop sending domestic workers abroad in an effort to protect the country's dignity, according to an Indonesian official.

To move forward with President Joko Widodo's policy of preventing any more Indonesians from working abroad as domestic workers, Nusron Wahid–head of the Agency of Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers–said his country will stop sending domestic workers to the Middle East, starting this year, as the first step.

From 2017, it will gradually stop sending domestic workers to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau and other countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region, he said Wednesday during an interview with Indonesian media Liputan6.com.

Rather than sending domestic workers overseas, he said, Indonesia will begin exporting trained and skilled workers. To that end, he said, his government is preparing to provide training programs to help give them skills.

He said he believes this policy will help Indonesian migrant workers get better salaries.

He was appointed after Widodo was inaugurated as Indonesia's new president in October.

The new government has made improving the rights and benefits of migrant workers and their overall working conditions one of its top administrative priorities.

During an interview with CNA in December, the official said he understands Taiwan's need for domestic helpers from Indonesia and suggested a solution to maintain the flow of workers in informal sectors.

Taiwan should comprehensively raise wages for Indonesian domestic helpers based on its own minimum wage regulations, and work hours should be limited to a level consistent with local law, he said, adding that domestic helpers should not live under the same roof as their employers but should be housed in dormitories.

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Hong Kong woman gets six-year sentence for abusing maid

Hundreds of Indonesian Migrant Workers Repatriated

Jakarta Globe, Jan 19, 2015

There were 4.3 million Indonesians working abroad in 2012, according to official
data from the BNP2TKI. The majority are woman. (EPA Photo/Mast Irham)

Jakarta. More than 480 Indonesians who were living or working in Saudi Arabia without the correct documentation have arrived home.

The 482 Indonesians, 64 of whom were children under 12, were welcomed back into the country on Monday.

Nusron Wahid, head of Indonesia’s migrant workers agency, or BNP2TKI, said the arrival was the first phase of President Joko Widodo’s plan to repatriate migrant workers stranded abroad.

The majority of the migrants were overstayers that had left six to ten years ago, Nusron said in a statement. Most had encountered administrative problems or run away from their patrons.

There were 4.3 million Indonesians working abroad in 2012, according to official data from the BNP2TKI. The real figure, however, was estimated to be at least double that — and perhaps as much as four times as high — according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are the most popular destinations.

Nusron said the government would provide work and entrepreneurship training for the workers, but promised to help them if they decided to return.

“We’re now trying to make a new contract with the Saudi Arabian government that includes a new minimum wage and new protection scheme,” he said. “We also offer help for those who want to come home.

“We already have a budget to give them protection as well as development in the food industry, creative industry, and tourism.”

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Jokowi to Scrap ID Card for Indonesian Migrant Workers
Minister Promises Better Days Ahead for Indonesian Migrant Workers

Jokowi to Scrap ID Card for Indonesian Migrant Workers

Jakarta Globe, Dec 01, 2014

President Joko Widodo has announced he will cancel the identification card,

 known as KTKLN, for Indonesian migrant workers due to allegations of

extortion. (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has announced Indonesia’s migrant workers identification card program will be scrapped due to numerous cases of alleged extortion.

Joko, popularly known as Jokowi, made the decision after speaking with Indonesian migrant workers in eight countries during a teleconference on Sunday.

An Indonesian migrant worker in Brunei Darussalam told Joko that the identification card, known as KTKLN, was a “burden” mentally and materially.

“We want the KTKLN program to be erased, not just revised or replaced with other similar cards,” the worker told the president, as quoted by news portal Tribunnews.com. “We want it to be scrapped.”

Upon hearing the request, Joko reportedly told Nusron Wahid, the newly appointed chief of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), to cancel the program.

“I have decided to scrap the KTKLN program. We’ll revoke it.” Joko was quoted as saying by Tribunnews.com.

Launched in 2007, the card aims to identify that the worker to whom it belonged had completed the proper procedure to work abroad. The full implementation of the card, however, began in 2011.

The card, which was introduced free-of-charge, also works as a security instrument before and after the holder is given an assignment.

However, there have been numerous reports by Indonesian migrant workers who claim they have had to pay huge amounts of cash in order to obtain the card — pointing to exploitation by officials.

President Joko Widodo leads the “E-Blusukan” with Indonesian Migrant
Workers (TKI) that are stationed in 8 differents parts of the world.

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Jusuf Kalla: Indonesia to Stop Sending Women Workers Abroad

Jakarta Globe, SP/Novianti Setuningsih, Nov 21, 2014

Vice President Jusuf Kalla talking with citizens concerned over rising fuel
prices, in Jakarta on Wednesday. (Antara Photo/Setwapres/Jeri Wongiyanto)

Jakarta. Indonesia plans to end the practice of sending female workers (TKW) abroad by creating more job opportunities here, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Friday.

Speaking at a conference of the women’s organization of Nahdlatul Ulama (Fatayat NU), Kalla said women are mostly forced to seek a better future abroad because of limited opportunities in Indonesia, and that many suffer mental and physical abuse.

“We will end all of this [bad treatment of workers],” the vice president said. “The problems with the TKW [will end], in five years we must [stop sending them] abroad.”

Kalla said that the agriculture sector would be a primary source of future jobs, followed by light industrial work.

The lot of the migrant worker is a major political issue in Indonesia. While remittances sent by construction workers and domestic workers from abroad has had an important impact on raising hundreds of thousands of families out of poverty, migrant workers often fall victim to abuse and in many cases have to surrender their passports to either agents or employers.

Extreme cases such as the recent murders of two Indonesian women in Hong Kong, allegedly at the hands of a British banker, occasionally make international headlines, but the domestic press is never short on stories of abuse.

Advocacy group Migrant Care estimates that every day between 400 to 500 Indonesian migrant workers are extorted by security and immigration officers on their return to Indonesia.

The group has recorded more than 1,000 extortion cases over the last ten years, which are said to involve police and military officials as well as from other government agencies.

“Everyday, 400 to 500 TKI [Indonesian migrant workers] are extorted,” Migrant Care chairwoman Anis Hidayah said in August. The figure, she said, represented 45 percent of Indonesian migrant workers returning home everyday. The extortion scheme “is systematic,” Anis continued.

The culprits, Anis alleged, are from the military, police, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Indonesian Workers Placement and Protection Agency (BNP2TKI).

Earlier this month, the newly inaugurated minister of manpower and transmigration, Hanif Dhakiri, pledged to audit all migrant worker placement agencies in a bid to crack down on widespread extortion.

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Indonesia a Hive of Modern-Day Slavery

Minister Promises Better Days Ahead for Indonesian Migrant Workers

Jakarta Globe, Nov 08, 2014

Indonesian migrant workers wait to exit a Saudi ship at Tanjung Priok Port, in
Jakarta. (JG Photo/Udhi Sukma Wijaya)

Jakarta. The newly inaugurated Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Hanif Dhakiri, pledged on Saturday to audit all migrant worker placement agencies in a bid to crack down on widespread extortion of some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

“I will not tolerate anyone playing dirty, be it the agencies or the staff in my ministry,” Hanif told Indonesian news portal Tempo.co on Saturday.

The sector is nominally regulated but criminal gangs have long established  that the placing of poorer members of society in countries such Dubai and Saudi Arabia makes for good business. Migrant workers frequently fall victim to extortion at the hands of these agents.

“Hopeful migrant workers are asked to deposit guarantee money and told they would receive training but what happens next is they don’t get the training and the agents run away with their money,” Hanif told Tempo.

The lot of the migrant worker is a major political issue in Indonesia. While remittances sent by construction workers and domestic workers from abroad has had an important impact on raising hundreds of thousands of families out of poverty, migrant workers are often victim to mental and physical abuse and in many cases have to surrender their passports to either agents or employers.

Extreme cases such as the recent murders of two women in Hong Kong, allegedly at the hands of a British banker, occasionally make international headlines, but the domestic press is never short on stories of abuse perpetrated by agents, employers — even the governments of workers’ destination countries.

There are around 45 Indonesian domestic workers on death row in Saudi Arabia, while 375 Indonesians workers were facing the death penalty worldwide in 2012, according to data from Migrant Care, a Jakarta-based advocacy group set up by labor activists.

While migrant workers are frequently extorted when they are first recruited — the villages of West Java being particularly fertile ground for placement agents — the return journey home has historically been an opportunity for members of the military, police and airport authorities to take a cut of workers’ wages.

The KPK and the National Police conducted a joint raid on July 25 at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta and arrested 18 people — including a soldier and two members of the National Police.

The men were running a decade-long racket at the airport where returning workers would be forced to pay up to 10 times the market rate for a taxi to their chosen destination. A foreign exchange scam would also relieve the workers of large sums of money. One worker testified that she had been forced to pay $250 for a taxi.

The vast scale of the extortion racket is instructive of a systemic lack of protection.

Migrant Care director Anis Hidayah said earlier this year that 400-500 migrant workers were extorted when they returned home, describing the scam as “systemic” and estimating that the figure represented 45 percent of the total number of workers re-entering Indonesia.

In addition to addressing the entrenched exploitation of workers, Hanif also plans to improve the facilities where migrant workers are housed before they leave the country.

“The fact is; they look more like detention centers,” Hanif told Tempo.co.

“I have seen some migrant workers stay in these shelters for eight months,” he added.

Hanif pledged to ensure that all Indonesian migrant workers receive proper protection from when they are recruited to when they return home.

Ministry data show there are 520 registered placement agencies in the country.

“We will conduct an audit for all these agencies,” Hanif said.

Plight of Domestic Workers in Indonesia Is Seen as Mirroring Slavery

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra,February 25, 2014

A domestic worker being identified for work at an employment
center in Cipete, Jakarta. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Jakarta. The allegation that a retired police general and his wife held 16 domestic workers in captivity and tortured them in their Bogor, West Java, mansion, is a form of modern-day slavery that is only one of countless such incidents occurring behind the high walls of luxury homes in Indonesia.

Anis Hidayah, executive director of Jakarta-based Migrant Care, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that such practices are physically concealed but occur all around us, stripping those silent victims of their most basic of human rights: freedom.

“Many of us are still trapped in the feudalistic mentality, always wanting to be served,” she said, comparing the situation to the early years of the American colonies, when Europeans desperate to cross the ocean ended up signing contracts of debt bondage or indentured servitude.

“Although indentured servants are needed to work only for a limited period, as stated in the signed contract, many were exploited as low-cost laborers and severely maltreated. Ironically, such cases occur in Indonesia today,” she said.

Mutiara Situmorang and her husband, retired police general Mangisi Situmorang, were reported to the police after one of their 16 domestic workers — half of whom were under the legal working age of 17 — fled the mansion last week, claiming she had suffered from physical abuse.

The 17-year-old, Yuliana Lewer, said she was forced to work more than 12 hours a day, and Mutiara would beat her if she made any mistake.

Anis said this case was not unique as many domestic workers in the country have similar experiences.

Similar cases

In June last year, 18-year-old Siti Nur Amalah, a housemaid working in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, went to the police after her employers, husband and wife couple Usman and Dina, had been beating her since 2012, resulting in permanent blindness. Usman had also frequently sexually abused the teenager.

“I was often told to strip naked, and he then touched my private parts,” she told MetroTVnews.com.

Police said they were still investigating the matter.

In October, the Supreme Court handed down a longer jail term to Lidya Natalia and her mother Tan Fang May for torturing their maid, Marlena, 16.

“She was chained like a dog, and beaten and soaked in the bathtub,” a judge told Detik.com.

Also in October that year, the same court punished Sri Sunarti, 29, and Yudaka, 63, for torturing their 17-year-old housemaid, Kaminah, since 2008.

Semarang-based Perisai, a child labor advocacy group, said they received reports from 30 house workers in 2012 alone who were victims of abuse at the hands of their employers.

“They have been raped, beaten and scolded almost every day of their employment,” the group said in a statement.

Anis said based on data from Walk Free Foundation’s inaugural Global Slavery Index 2013, “some 29.8 million [people] are still forced to live in slavery around the world, with some 21 million slaves in Asia, including Indonesia.”

Data from the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT) stated 1,273 abuse cases [of domestic workers] were reported from 2011 to 2012 nationwide. In 2013, they received 650 reports of maid abuse.

Jala PRT estimates more than 10 million people currently work as maids in Indonesia.

Human trafficking

Alvon Kurnia Palma, chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) feared these cases might indicate human trafficking, though further investigation was still needed.

“These cases of abuse not only involve torture, but also forced captivity and perhaps even human trafficking. In the latter, young domestic workers are recruited, transported, delivered and finally cheated out of their wages and freedom,” he said on Monday.

In the Bogor case for instance, Alvon questioned how Mutiara was able to recruit so many girls, and more importantly, who supplied them.

“We need to find out whether these workers were taken from a broker or formal agency. And if a broker was involved, we need to find out whether he or she had the legal authority to do so.”

Alvon doubted the recruiting agency was legal.

“If they have a [proper] license, why did they recruit children of under the age of 18?” he asked.

Alvon demanded the police to investigate every lead, every person who was involved, up to the recruiting agency to prevent similar cases in future.

“No one is exempt from the law, whoever the abuser may be — even the wife of a well-known general, for example, will not be given legal leeway,” he said.

Sri Nurherwati, a commissioner at the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), condemned Mutiara for mistreating her domestic workers and holding them hostage. Sri also urged the police to punish the guilty accordingly, so they may never commit the same atrocities again.

Weak protection

Sri said no form of legal protection exists for household workers in Indonesia.

Any law that applies to them are weak at best, making them dependent on the “kindness” of their employers — a situation similar to slavery.

“Many of these housemaids live with their employers. They are placed in a ‘lower’ position and feel they cannot speak up for their rights,” she explained. “They are dependent on their employer. So, we must establish a legal means to protect them.”

She lamented the continued 10-year delay in the deliberations of the domestic worker protection bill in the House of Representatives. The bill, she said, would cater to the main interests of Indonesia’s domestic workers by touching on issues including minimum wage and working hours, with clear punishments outlined for employers who violate the regulations.

“We [Komnas Perempuan] have urged the House many times to discuss and then pass the bill. But the lawmakers somehow believe cases tortured maids can be resolved through existing laws,” Sri said.

However, the increasing number of abuse cases against domestic workers proves current laws fail to protect them.

“Maids, who fall into informal sectors, will still be vulnerable to mistreatment. If we do not have a form of legal protection emphasizing domestic workers as being part of the wheel of economic development, how can we consider a housewife’s job as honorable?” she said.

Anis Hidayah added that household maids work within the obstructing walls of a home; no one would bear witness to any form of abuse, and the government would not be able to intervene unless the victim voluntarily approached the police.

“There is no reason for holding back the draft bill as this [abuse] truly degrades human kind,” she said.

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