W

hile the Australian government did everything it could to save its cows from cruel treatment beyond its borders, the Indonesian government did nothing to salvage the life of one of its citizens who contributed to the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Ruyati, a migrant worker from Bekasi, West Java, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia on Saturday just a few days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke before an International Labor Organization (ILO) forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on his administration’s efforts to protect Indonesian migrant workers.

More surprisingly, the Foreign Ministry claimed to know nothing about the planned execution, “The Saudi government did not notify the Indonesian government about the execution” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said.

Perhaps the Saudis broke the international law, but the minister’s statement reflects the state’s irresponsibility, insensitivity and incompetence.

The question is why did the ministry wait for the Saudi government to notify it about the execution, which came at the end of a protracted legal process?

Why didn’t Indonesian representatives take the initiative to learn about the situation so that they could fulfill the call of humanity that is at the center of the Constitution’s mandate to protect life inside and outside Indonesia?

Perhaps there is no such of call that rings in the heart of Indonesian leaders and officials. They are preoccupied by greed, selfishness and the pursuit of material satisfaction and unable to appreciate the sacredness of life or experience the connection between human beings.

In Ruyati’s case, the insensitivity of the Indonesian elites is clearly evident.

Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI), for example, told the media, “Ruyati’s death sentence is more about criminal events than about labor issues.” A common citizen can understand that the incident clearly originates from an apparent labor issue: the conflict between a maid and her employer.

The daughter of Ruhati, in a TV interview told the viewers that her mother was treated so poorly that she broke her leg.

In another example of insensitivity, the ministry said that they could not return Ruhati’s body to Indonesia due to the strictness of Saudi administration.

House of Representatives lawmaker TB Hasanudin recently said Indonesian diplomats often gave irrational reasons for their ignorance of migrant worker affairs, claiming the workers were geographically dispersed, making communication difficult.

Indeed, the way people have been separated from politics and government in Indonesia is beyond imagination. This gap needs correction otherwise there will be more migrant workers criminalized and executed overseas.

MetroTV reported that 303 Indonesian migrant workers were facing criminal charges worldwide, including 58 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia.

Further, in less than two weeks, Darsem, a housemaid from Subang, West Java, will be hanged if she cannot pay Rp 4.7 billion (US$546,500) in “blood money” after a Saudi court found her guilty of murder. Darsem killed a man who attempted to rape her.

Maltreatment, sexual harassment and the execution of Indonesian migrant workers are not new in Saudi Arabia. Before Ruyati, Yanti was executed in 2008 and Warni executed in 2000 for murder. Another Indonesian maid, Dewi Ratna Suminar, 23, suffered from extreme depression and was eventually sent home after she was the victim of sexual violence.

According to statistics, 3,835 Indonesian migrant workers were badly treated in 2010, 55 percent of whom were working in Saudi Arabia. More than 900 women migrant workers died from sickness or maltreatment.

In most of those cases, the state was not present. This is ridiculous. More than 3.3 million women work far from their homes, families and loved ones and at risk of discrimination, violence and sexual harassment.

To stop the potential for tragedy, the government should create a decent working environment and employment opportunities at home and ensure that every life abroad is protected. The more than 22,000 women who left Indonesia to work in 42 countries this year have sent home more than Rp 214 billion to date.

Despite this huge contribution, the country has done little to improve the condition of migrant women, let alone protect them.

Indonesia lags behind its neighbor the Philippines in terms of the protection of migrant workers and the recruitment of foreign exchange heroines.

If Australia, a secular nation, appreciates the sacredness of animals such as cows, why does Indonesia, which claims to be a religious nation, fail to respect the sacredness of a human life?

The writer is a researcher at the Center for Cultural Pluralism, Democracy and Character Building at Semarang State University (UNNES).