Sumiati lies in a hospital bed in Saudi Arabia. Her employer is accused of cutting off part of her lips with scissors, scalding her back with an iron, fracturing her middle finger, and beating her legs until she could hardly walk


Protesters outside the Saudi embassy in Jakarta hold up banners that read 'Saudi Arabia : Criminal on Humanity'. Why? Migrant workers from Indonesia generate an estimated £4.7billion in foreign exchange every year
A young woman lies in a Saudi hospital with her head bandaged, her lips cut off, burns all over body and broken bones.
The shocking photos of her injuries have caused an uproar in her home country of Indonesia but many fear Sumiati is not alone in her suffering.
She arrived in Saudi Arabia in July a high-spirited 23-year-old, eager to start work as a maid to help support her family back home.
Four months later, she is Indonesia's poster child for migrant abuse, alone and staring vacantly from a hospital bed, her face sliced and battered.
But while public anger has forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to acknowledge the problem for the first time, few expect any firm action to be taken.
Gruesome images of Sumiati, now recovering in the Saudi city of Medina, have been splashed on the front pages of local newspapers in Indonesia and led TV news for more than a week.
Her employer - who has been taken in for questioning by police - is accused of cutting off part of her lips with scissors, scalding her back with an iron, fracturing her middle finger, and beating her legs until she could hardly walk.
She was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago unconscious, with signs of malnutrition and blood loss, and could barely speak, in addition to the horrifying visible injuries.
She claims the mother and daughter both beat her regularly.
'It's hardly the first such case,' said Wahyu Susilo of the Indonesian advocacy group, Migrant Care.
'Again and again we hear about slavery-like conditions, torture, sexual abuse and even death, but our government has chosen to ignore it. Why? Because migrant workers generate $7.5billion of dollars (£4.7billion) in foreign exchange every year.'
Workers from Asian countries dominate service industries in the Middle East and there have been many reports of abuse - including recent allegations that an employer in Kuwait hammered 14 metal pins into the body of a Sri Lankan maid.
'The wanton brutality alleged in these cases is shocking,' said Nisha Varia, senior women's rights researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch. It has called on authorities to investigate claims promptly and bring those responsible to justice.
She and others called cases like that of Sumiati the 'tip of the iceberg'.
'It just shows how little he understands the problems domestic workers abroad are facing,' said Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, an opposition lawmaker who is dealing with labour and domestic workers affairs.
'Their employers are locking them up and taking away their passports ... they aren't going to let them keep a phone.'
Most people believe little will change until women are better educated and prepared for better jobs in Indonesia, a sprawling nation of 237million people, where the average wage is less than $300 a month.
Sumiati, a recent high school graduate from a fishing village on Sumbawa island, was full of enthusiasm when she left for Saudi Arabia on July 18 with the help of a local recruitment agency, according to family and friends.
4 comments:
O.M.G
This is tough. Lakini nasikia wanawafanza kitu mbaya wafanyakazi wageni huko usaudia.
Ila hii sikuwahi iona.
HEAVEN HELP US ALL
Huko Saudia kuna unyanyasaji wa hali ya juu sana,sijui ni kiburi cha pesa au sijui ni kitu gani kinachowafanya wawe wanyanyasaji kiasi hicho? kinachonishangaza mimi hivi huko Saudia si ndio watu wanakokwenda kufanya hija huko? au sio Saudia? sindio wangekuwa wanyenyekevu maana wao ndio wacha mungu hao au? na mji wao ndio watu wanaamini kuwa ni mji mtakatifu au?
I think the main thing ni ignorance...ulimbukeni...ingshe
kumbukeni shetani siku zote hufuata watu wa Mungu ili awalete katika kundi lake! Hivyo katika miji ya wenzetu na pesa walizonazo lazima Iblis awe nao ili wasikumbuke kabisa kutubia kwa muumba wao, japo kuwa nyumba tukufu iko hapo hapo.
Mungu atawahukumu.
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