Rights group on mission to curb human trafficking
HELPING HAND: Maid detectives spot potential victims, advise them on issues
RIMA Jayanti has not had formal training in detective work but with her sharp eye and gut instinct, her task is to spot Indonesian women at the airport here in danger of being sent abroad to a life of domestic servitude.
Making her rounds, the 23-yearold quickly points out groups of women likely heading abroad to work as maids.
“We can tell from their appearance — sometimes with a bit of instinct too — who are the potential victims and where they are going,” Jayanti said.
Maids going to the Middle East tend to wear headscarves, be middle-aged and elusive when asked about their plans, she said.
Women travelling to Hong Kong or Taiwan usually have short hair, wear sneakers and are younger.
Some 2.3 million Indonesians are working as maids in wealthier countries in Asia and the Middle East, risking abuse, including the non-payment of wages and physical assault.
Jayanti is part of a team of
“maid detectives” from Jakartabased rights group Migrant Care, which tracks down potential human trafficking victims, and offers advice to people seeking to leave of their own free will on how to look after themselves.
They have had some successes since they began work last year.
They rescued a woman who had been brought to the airport by a maid agent, only to discover she was about to be sent to Saudi Arabia against her will.
Women often approach a maid agent to help them secure a placement abroad and handle the paperwork. While most work within
the law, some have been accused of trafficking women.
Maids make up more than a third of the six million Indonesians working abroad, attracted by promises of higher salaries. Last year, migrant workers sent home some US$9.4 billion (RM38 billion) in remittances, according to official data. But stories abound of maids being sent abroad against their will, enduring horrific abuse and living in slave-like conditions.
Jakarta last year summoned the Saudi Arabian ambassador after two Indonesian maids were executed in the Gulf country.
On May last year, complaints of
mistreatment of Indonesians in the Middle East and the ensuing diplomatic rows prompted Jakarta to permanently ban maids from moving into the region.
Maids already working there were allowed to remain.
But groups like Migrant Care and the National Advocacy Network of Domestic Workers, two of the Indonesia’s leading organisations fighting for maids’ rights, have criticised the ban.
They said it restricted women’s rights to employment and puts them in greater danger by driving underground an industry, which already has a dark side to it. Reuters