News
NU and other organizations express concern over migrant workers' fate
Selasa, 7 Desember 2010 | 22:48 WIB
Jakarta, NU Online
Indonesian Muslim organizations expressed concern here on Tuesday over the various acts of violence committed against Indonesian female migrant workers abroad.
Twelve Islamic organizations including the largest Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah as well as smaller ones such as Al Irsyah Al Islamiyah, Al Washliyah, Al Ittihadiyah, Perti, Persis, Syarikat Islam Indonesia, PITI, Rabithah Alawiyin, Parmusi and Mathlaul Anwar conveyed their concern after holding a meeting at the headquarters of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) in Jakarta.
/>
"We expressed our deep concern over various tragedies that have befallen Indonesian female migrant workers in various countries," Suparwan Parikesit, the spokesman of the organizations, said when reading their statement of concern.
The Islamic organizations urged the government to give full protection to all Indonesian migrant workers, female workers in particular, and improve the recruiting process including the selection of workers and to tightly control workers` suppliers.
They also called on the government to seek the signing of memorandums of understanding or bilateral agreements on protection of the migrant workers with every destination country.
The Islamic organizations also called for the government to stop temporarily sending workers to countries with which it had signed no memorandum of understanding or agreement for the protection of workers.
General chairman of PBNU KH Said Aqil Siradj said there should be a new way of seeing migrant workers. He said these workers should not only be treated as mere foreign exchange earners but also as citizens who are struggling to overcome their economic difficulties at home and meet their basic rights for survival and livelihood.
"Do not only look at the foreign exchange they collect because this way of thinking will only encourage the commercialization of migrant workers," he said.
Based on the new way of seeing them, he said, migrant workers should be given appreciation and maximum protection from the state. They must be treated not as objects but as subjects, he said.
"Although they work in the domestic sector we must appreciate them," he said.
He said totally stopping the dispatch of migrant workers was indeed unrealistic as the government was not as yet able to provide jobs for them.
Therefore the sending could be continued but concrete steps had to be taken to protect them, he said.
"The nation's esteem is also at stake with regard to our ability to protect our workers abroad," he said.
He said Indonesia was not the only country that sends workers to work in the domestic sector abroad but workers from other countries have been better respected and protected by their respective governments so that they have seldom been treated badly by their employers. (dar)
Indonesian Muslim organizations expressed concern here on Tuesday over the various acts of violence committed against Indonesian female migrant workers abroad.
Twelve Islamic organizations including the largest Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah as well as smaller ones such as Al Irsyah Al Islamiyah, Al Washliyah, Al Ittihadiyah, Perti, Persis, Syarikat Islam Indonesia, PITI, Rabithah Alawiyin, Parmusi and Mathlaul Anwar conveyed their concern after holding a meeting at the headquarters of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) in Jakarta.
/>
"We expressed our deep concern over various tragedies that have befallen Indonesian female migrant workers in various countries," Suparwan Parikesit, the spokesman of the organizations, said when reading their statement of concern.
The Islamic organizations urged the government to give full protection to all Indonesian migrant workers, female workers in particular, and improve the recruiting process including the selection of workers and to tightly control workers` suppliers.
They also called on the government to seek the signing of memorandums of understanding or bilateral agreements on protection of the migrant workers with every destination country.
The Islamic organizations also called for the government to stop temporarily sending workers to countries with which it had signed no memorandum of understanding or agreement for the protection of workers.
General chairman of PBNU KH Said Aqil Siradj said there should be a new way of seeing migrant workers. He said these workers should not only be treated as mere foreign exchange earners but also as citizens who are struggling to overcome their economic difficulties at home and meet their basic rights for survival and livelihood.
"Do not only look at the foreign exchange they collect because this way of thinking will only encourage the commercialization of migrant workers," he said.
Based on the new way of seeing them, he said, migrant workers should be given appreciation and maximum protection from the state. They must be treated not as objects but as subjects, he said.
"Although they work in the domestic sector we must appreciate them," he said.
He said totally stopping the dispatch of migrant workers was indeed unrealistic as the government was not as yet able to provide jobs for them.
Therefore the sending could be continued but concrete steps had to be taken to protect them, he said.
"The nation's esteem is also at stake with regard to our ability to protect our workers abroad," he said.
He said Indonesia was not the only country that sends workers to work in the domestic sector abroad but workers from other countries have been better respected and protected by their respective governments so that they have seldom been treated badly by their employers. (dar)
