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279 Indonesian migrant workers face death penalty abroad
As many as 279 Indonesia migrant workers overseas face the possibility of execution, 36 of whom are in Saudi Arabia, an official has said
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s many as 279 Indonesia migrant workers overseas face the possibility of execution, 36 of whom are in Saudi Arabia, an official has said.
'The government, through the Indonesian embassies in those countries, is striving to free them [death row convicts] from the death sentences by, among others efforts, conducting informal approaches to families of the victims,' Manpower Ministry migrant worker placement director Guntur Witjaksono said.
He was speaking during a coordination meeting concerning Indonesian migrant worker placement and protection in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday.
Guntur said informal lobbying of families of victims was a key means of securing pardon for Indonesian migrant workers awaiting execution.
He said some of the migrant workers being facing the death penalty had been convicted of murder. According to the ministry's official data, six out of 36 Indonesian migrant workers on death row overseas are from Central Java.
The head of the domestic and foreign worker placement division at the Central Java Manpower, Transmigration and Population agency, Ahmad Aziz, said in the beginning of 2015, eight migrant workers from Central Java were facing the possibility of execution.
'There are now only six workers [on death row], as Karni from Brebes has been executed, while Satinah from Semarang escaped execution after the Indonesian government paid diyat [blood money] to the victim's family,' said Aziz.
The deputy head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Agustin Subiantoro, said most Indonesian workers facing legal problems overseas were working in informal sectors, particularly as domestic helpers.
'The problem often starts at the very beginning, namely in worker-recruitment processes that do not follow required procedures. These include document-completeness examinations, competency tests, health check-ups and training before departures,' he said.
Agustin added that by completing all procedures, there should have been a guarantee that Indonesian migrant workers dispatched were only those who had the competence or skills needed by their employers in the destination countries.
To better protect Indonesian workers from similar legal problems in the future, he said the government would establish stricter recruitment protocol, stressing worker competence such as housework skills, legal knowledge and language, as well as the ability to adapt to the culture of the people in their destination countries.
Karni binti Medi Tarsim was executed on Thursday. In 2013, a Saudi Arabian court sentenced Karni to death for killing her employer's four-year-old child in 2012. Karni's execution came just two days after another Indonesian migrant worker, Siti Zaenab, was beheaded in Medina on Tuesday. In 2001, a local court sentenced Siti to death for murdering her female employer in 1999. (ebf)(++++)
