Saudi diplomat is “not correct”: migrant worker NGO

A local NGO says that a Saudi Arabian diplomat was not correct when he claimed that abuse of Indonesian workers in the Middle Eastern country was rare.

Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah slammed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Abdulrahman Al-Khayyat, who told a press conference on Thursday that the alleged torture of Sumiati was "a very rare case."

Anis said the ambassador's statement was "deceitful" in light of the report Migrant Care received on Thursday night alleging the mistreatment of another migrant worker.

The dead body of Kikim Komalasari binti Uko Marta was recently discovered in a dumpster. Kikim was allegedly sexually and physically abused before her death, Anis said.

Anis said Migrant Care recorded 5,563 cases of the alleged abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia this year to date, including 1,090 allegations of physical abuse, 3,568 complaints of poor working conditions and 898 allegations of sexual abuse and nonpayment of salary.

The plight of Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia came into the spotlight last week, when allegations that Indonesian migrant worker Sumiati had been tortured by her employer.(afl)