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Frustrated at home, domestic workers vow to fight for protection on international stage
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A couple on a motorcycle drives past a mural under Kewek Bridge in Yogyakarta on Wednesday. The mural demands that the government and the House of Representatives resume deliberation of a bill on the protection of domestic workers, which has been stalled for 18 years. (Antara/Andreas Fitri Atmoko)
W
ith the government and lawmakers seemingly dragging their feet in providing better protection for Indonesian domestic workers, activists have set out to fight for their rights on the international stage.
Indonesia has at least 5 million domestic workers, according to the National Advocacy Network (JALA), and many of them experience hostile working conditions, including abusive treatment and given no days off or health insurance by their employers.
Iweng Karsiwen, an ex-migrant domestic worker and activist from the Big Family of Indonesian Migrant Workers (Kabar Bumi), flew to New York City, the United States, in late May to speak to in United Nations’ International Migration Review Forum (UN IMRF) stakeholder meeting.
She urged governments to pay more attention to their practice of Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), a non-legally binding international deal approved in 2018 that encourages countries to protect migrant workers.
She noted that Indonesia had not sent a representative to attend the IMRF meeting.
Karsiwen added that she had submitted a report to the UN’s Human Rights Council (OCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland, on the situation in Indonesia, hoping that it would prompt international pressure on the government to grant domestic workers more rights.
“Fighting about this at home, most times, will not get us anywhere. We have tried dialogues, petitions, declarations, you name it – nothing works. We are left with no choice but to humiliate the government at an international forum,” Karsiwen said.
