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Migrant worker tells court she was sent to Iraq against her will
East Jakarta district court heard Thursday the testimony of a migrant worker who was sent to Iraq against her will
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East Jakarta district court heard Thursday the testimony of a migrant worker who was sent to Iraq against her will.
Anis Hidayah, executive director of the Indone-sian Association of Migrant Workers Sovereignty, Migrant Care, said it was the first time a migrant worker’s case had reached a testimony hearing. The trial was led by Judge Siswandriyono.
“Usually, such a case ends through the mediation process or even before the first trial,” she said.
The witness testifying on Thursday’s trial was Darmiati binti Jaba Saleh, a victim of human trafficking and a resident of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara. She applied for a job in Jordan through agency PT Duta Putra Banten Mandiri but was declared unfit to work after a compulsory medical check up.
A migrant middleman named Gunawan offered her work in “some Kurdistani country”, telling her it was safe and she would get a higher salary. He also guaranteed she would get
a job in spite of her unfit condition.
“I didn’t know where Kurdistan was. I didn’t know it was Iraq. The agent showed some pictures of the countryside, depicting Iraq as a safe country, so I agreed to go,” Darmiati said.
She could not get a job upon reaching Iraq due to her health condition. When she asked agency officers in Iraq to send her home, they demanded she pay US$2,000. The agency officers also abused and treated her badly, Darmiati testified.
She said she could hear bombs exploding from the agency’s shelter.
Darmiati managed to go to the Iraq branch of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) but since her passport was held by the agency, she could not go back to Indonesia. The agency finally released her after her health condition worsened. She returned to Indonesia in November.
The defendant, Andi Gunawan, aka Fauzi, Fauzi Nasution and Aby Maulana, was arrested by the police in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta. He was accused of violating Migrant Worker laws, for which he could be jailed for 10 years or fined at least Rp 15 billion ($1.6 million).
Attending the trial without a lawyer, Gunawan admitted to Darmiati’s accusations. “The testimony is true,” he said.
Other witnesses will testify in the next trial, to be held on April 17.
Migrant Care recorded 27 other migrant workers trapped in Iraq last year. Anis said her organization would also bring their cases to trial.
