Eight abused migrant workers in Dubai sent home

Cash cow: In this Dec. 19, 2008, file photo, a protester stands by a wooden cow during a rally to mark International Migrants Day in Jakarta. The crowd were protesting the government's lack of care for the safety and protection of Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) and their families. The slogan painted on the cow reads, "TKI = Cash Cow." (JP/P.J. Leo)The Indonesian Consulate General’s office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has sent home eight migrant workers who were abused by their employers.

First secretary of the Consulate General Adiguna Wijaya said on Thursday that one of them broke her leg and had been treated in Rashid Hospital in Dubai, antaranews.com reported.

The women were among 204 migrant workers sent home by the Consulate General’s office this year because they had problems with their employers.

Out of the last batch sent home, six were from West Java, one from East Java and one from West Sulawesi.

Working as house maids, they had run away from their employers’ houses and sought help at the Consulate General’s office. They complained that they were overworked, that they had not been paid and that employers often beat and even sexually harassed them.

The women had stayed at the Consulate General’s temporary shelter for between one and seven and a half months, before they were sent home.

Adiguna said that the Consulate General helped them with the legal process and administration matters in cooperation with the local ImmigrationOoffice, police, court, manpower agency and the employers.

Consulate General Mansyur Pangeran called upon the women learn their lesson and think twice before they wanted to work abroad.

He said it would be better for the women to seek jobs in Indonesia.