Indonesian worker beheading shows SBY's words weightless: NGO

An NGO says the beheading of an Indonesian housemaid, Ruyati binti Saboti, in Saudi Arabia on Saturday proves that the President's declared stance on protection of migrant workers is merely empty talk.

On June 14, at an ILO convention, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke highly on the country’s protection of Indonesian domestic workers abroad.

"In the speech, Yudhoyono said the mechanism for the protection of Indonesian migrant domestic workers had been running well, with its institutions and regulations all in place," Anis Hidayah of Migrant Care, an NGO focused on the welfare of Indonesian workers abroad, stated in a press release Sunday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

According to Migrant Care, this incident bares the government's diplomatic shortcomings.

"In Saudi Arabia, there are 23 Indonesians, mostly migrant domestic workers, who face the threat of the death penalty. The last case that emerged was the death penalty threat toward Darsem. In this case, the government only concentrated in paying blood money rather than providing advocacy in court, or by other diplomatic means,” Anis said.

“Migrant Care wants to highlight the under qualified performance of officials responsible, such as the workers and transmigration minister, the foreign minister, the head of Indonesian Workers Placement and Protection Agency and the Indonesian Ambassador for Saudi Arabia.”