Saudi Arabia Asks Indonesia Not to Overreact
Posted on November 17 2010 by Kompas
The Saudi Arabian government has called on the Indonesian government
not to overreact to cases involving Indonesian migrant workers in
Saudi Arabia as many aspects needed to be considered before they were
fully investigated. The call was made through the Saudi Ambassador to
Indonesia, Abdulrahman Al-Khayyath, in an interview with ANTARA at his
official residence on Wednesday evening.Al-Khayyath was interviewed on
reports that an Indonesian migrant worker was tortured by her employer
in Saudi Arabia. "I was summoned by the Foreign Affairs Ministry here
and received a protest note from the Indonesian government on the
issue of torture of an Indonesian worker in Saudi Arabia. On behalf of
the Royal Saudi Kingdom, I have expressed our deep regrets over the
case," said Al-Khayyath.
The Royal Saudi Kingdom, he added, especially regretted the fact that
the case had caused a furor in Indonesia at a time when the two
countries were observing Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice) and the Hajj
pilgrimage had reached its peak. The ambassador emphasized the Saudi
government would make sure that the party guilty of the torture of
the Indonesian migrant worker, Sumiati, would be called to account.
Then, based on the evidence currently being collected by law
enforcers in Saudi Arabia, he or she would be taken to court.
"We are grateful to the Indonesian government, through the Foreign
Affairs Ministry, for having entrusted the thorough investigation into
the case to the law enforcement institutions in Saudi Arabia," Al-
Khayyath said.
He added that Riyadh would like to see the Indonesian government not
overreact to the torture case considering the fact that there were
more than 1.0 million Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia. Compared to
the number, the percentage of negative happenings was very small. Al-
Khayyath also said that the majority of Indonesian migrant workers in
Saudi Arabia were satisfied with their working conditions.
Many workers who had returned to Indonesia later came back to Saudi
Arabia to work again. The average Indonesian migrant worker received
other kinds of benefit from his or her employer like being taken on
vacation in Europe or other countries.
He said the Saudi government was providing full legal protection for
migrant workers, including those from Indonesia. "We thank Indonesian
migrant workers who work in Saudi Arabia. But it should also be noted
that they were financially contributing a lot to their own country,
said the ambassador. Elaborating, he said, if each of the more than
one million Indonesian workers sent home one hundred US dollars per
month, it meant there was a monthly flow of 100 million dollars from
Saudi Arabia to Indonesia.
"I think this is a huge amount of money, especially if it is
accumulated over a year from the more than 1,0 million Indonesian
workers there," he said.
With regard to the reaction in Indonesia on the issue, Ambassador Al-
Khayyath asked the Indonesian government to understand that these days
were not a suitable time for visits by ministers or high-ranking
officials to Saudi Arabia to check on the Sumiati case. "Entrust it
to us. If Indonesian officials do come to Saudi Arabia now, who they
will see. Our officials are very busy attending to the Hajj
pilgrimage," he said.
The Indonesian Consulate General in Jidda, Saudi Arabiia, had received
a report that an Indonesian migrant worker from Dompu, West Nusa
Tenggara province, had been taken to King Fahd hospital in Medina. The
worker, Sumiati, had reportedly been tortured by the wife of her
employer and sustained serious injuries to many parts of her body.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, through its spokesperson Michael Tene,
stated on Tuesday that the victim's physical condition was very bad,
her two legs were almost paralyzed, the skin on her body and head had
peeled off, one middle was finger fractured, her eyebrows were
bruised and her upper lip had been cut off.
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