RI hires foreign lawyers for migrant workers

Indonesia Migrant Workers Protection taskforce spokesman Humphrey Djemat says the government has hired lawyers in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia — two countries that harbor most of the Indonesian migrant workforce.

“This has been a new thing for us, but is also a very important step because we want that every problematic Indonesian migrant worker to be assisted legally right from the start,” Humphrey said Monday.

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Indoesian government has appointed the Khidransyah Rani Law office, in Riyadh it has hired Abdullah bin Muhammad Law office and for workers in Malaysia, Sebastian Chen Law office has been appointed to provide the legal assistance.

There are now three separate taskforces that have been commissioned by the government to deal with Indonesian migrant workers’ legal problems. The taskforce for Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia is led by former religious affairs minister Maftuh Basyuni; the team for workers in China and Singapore is led by former attorney general Hendarman Supandji; and the team for workers in Malaysia is led by former national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

The Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection taskforce for Saudi Arabia has been struggling to release at least 44 Indonesian workers who have been sentenced to death mostly on murder charges.

Three of the migrant workers, Tuti Tursilawati of Majalengka, Siti Zaenab of Madura and Satinah of Ungaran are said to be in a "critical" situation after the families of the victims have either refused or have not yet granted them with forgiveness, an obligation to regain freedom from the death sentence under Arab law.