There Are No Jobs For Us In This Country!

Indonesian Labourers

We often hear about how Indonesian workers get treated when they work overseas. Those who work mainly as labourers or housemaids have been violently beaten up, some have died, and some have even committed suicide. The weird thing is, they suffer most when they work in countries or households where they claim as being Muslims. All I know is in the Al-Qur’an, we weren’t taught to hurt one another, to seize work wages, and to sexually assault someone. What kind of Islam do they practice?

On the other hand, the Indonesian Government hasn’t really been great at protecting Indonesian labourers overseas either. The Indonesian labourers who received help from the Government (and usually it’s too late anyway), are those who have successfully been exposed in the media. The laws that were written to organise the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (no. 39, written in year 2004), has 109 articles, but only 8 articles are about the protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers. Protection is clearly not the first priority. We should value our ‘foreign exchange heroes’. Where are their human rights?

The existence of Indonesian Migrant Workers is the evidence that the Indonesian Government have failed in a couple of things. The first thing, they have failed to create enough employment in the country for the people. They have also failed to make education more accessible for people from all economic backgrounds, because education helps to get jobs. I hope in 2011, the treatments of Indonesian labourers will be better, and the laws for their protection will be improved.

Alexia.