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Indonesian migrant worker to fly home after being held captive by employer for 15 years
A migrant worker from Lampung will finally return to her hometown after being held captive by her employer for 15 years.
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Indonesian migrant workers deported from Malaysia with their babies and children enter the Indonesian Migrant Workers Placement and Protection post at Pelindo I Dumai Port in Dumai, Riau, on March 8. (Antara/Aswaddy Hamid)
A migrant worker from Lampung will finally return to her hometown after being held captive by her employer for 15 years.
The migrant worker in question, identified as 42-year-old Sarisih, went to Jordan to work as a domestic servant in 2003.
However, during her first year there, Sarisih said she only received US$ 100. She also claimed that her employer never got her a residence permit. Moreover, the employer did not renew her passport when it expired in 2008.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan Andy Rachmianto said that his team would soon return Sarisih to her home and ensure that all of her rights were fulfilled.
“We will return Sarisih to her family soon. However, before we return her, we will make sure that all of her rights are already fulfilled,” Andy said, in a written statement received by kompas.com on Saturday.
Sarisih herself is currently staying at the Indonesian Embassy’s shelter in Jordan. She said that her employer had threatened her any time she expressed the wish to contact the embassy.
“I’ve wanted to go home for such a long time, but my employer held me back,” she said.
Previously, Sarisih’s 21-year-old daughter, Ferdina Nur Fitria, sent a letter to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo requesting his help in finding her mother.
“I beg you, please help my mother. Bapak Jokowi, please help me to return my mother home, isn’t my mother an Indonesian citizen too? I beg for your help, Pak Jokowi,” Ferdina wrote in her letter. (dpk)
