Six tasks: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, accompanied by his aides, proposes six instructions to improve for migrant worker protection, including the establishment of a special task force to assist workers in legal battles abroad. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday announced that the government would soon stop sending new migrant workers to Saudi Arabia, as a sign of protest over the recent execution of Indonesian domestic worker Ruyati binti Satubi by the Saudi government.
The moratorium would come into effect by August 1, Yudhoyono told a press conference at the Presidential Palace on Thursday.
The decision was made at a limited Cabinet meeting late on Wednesday, several hours before Yudhoyono’s meeting with members of the House of Representatives at the State Palace on Thursday, which was also held to discuss migrant worker protection issues.
“The moratorium will remain in place until Indonesia and Saudi Arabia reach an agreement that guarantees the protection of Indonesian workers [in Saudi Arabia] and their rights,” Yudhoyono said. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar and Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar accompanied President Yudhoyono at the press conference.
The President added that he would also send a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, which would include a statement of Indonesia’s protest over the execution.
Yudhoyono also said the government planned to set up a special taskforce to better manage Indonesian migrant workers facing the death sentence in other countries.
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