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RI’s domestic workers more protected abroad than at home
Employers in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries in many cases surpass their Indonesian counterparts when it comes to treating domestic workers.
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Writing on the wall: A couple on a motorcycle drive past a mural under Kewek Bridge in Yogyakarta on Wednesday. The mural demands the government and the House of Representatives resume deliberation of the bill on protection of domestic workers, which has been stalled for 17 years. (Antara/Andreas Fitri Atmoko)
M
any Indonesians, including me, need to read the following quotation. Hopefully the remarks, which were made more than 2,000 years ago may help us shame ourselves for our outrage when Indonesian migrant workers are abused by their employers abroad, while we are actually often more brutal than those we condemn.
“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’, when all the time there is a plank in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye,” this is from a very famous book quoting a very wise man describing how we humans are often genius in finding minor mistakes committed by others but not so smart when it comes to looking at our own misdeeds.
Millions of migrant Indonesians risk their lives at the hands of overseas employers because at home they cannot find a better life. Employers in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries in many cases surpass their Indonesian counterparts when it comes to treating domestic workers.
Legislator Masinton Pasaribu from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) recently demanded that the government take action to defend the rights of Indonesian migrant workers employed across the world. Quoting the media, he said several Indonesian domestic workers were tortured, worked more than 15 hours per day, and had their salaries withheld by their Malaysian employers.
“Do not let the Indonesian migrant workers fall victim to arbitrary actions by their employers, and struggle alone,” Masinton said.
Since 2004, the House of Representatives and the government have completed the draft of a legal umbrella for the protection of domestic servants. Citing technical excuses, however, both the legislature and executive have repeatedly delayed deliberation of the bill. And they know millions of Indonesians are quietly supportive of the delay because the bill, if passed, would cost them control over their poor housemaids.
The International Labor Organization, in its 2011 Convention No. 189, guarantees minimum labor protection to domestic workers on a par with other categories of worker while allowing for considerable flexibility in implementation. Then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono praised the convention, but made no effort to ratify it. I have never heard of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to establish a mechanism to better protect migrant workers either.
