Man, 61, Dies in Saudi Crackdown on Undocumented Migrant Workers
Indonesian migrant workers wait to exit the boat the KM Labobar at North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port in this file photo. The workers, many of them maids, were sent home from Saudi Arabia. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
Indonesian consular officials in Saudi Arabia scrambled on Thursday to secure return flights for migrant workers detained in this week's country-wide crackdown on undocumented immigrants after a 61-year-old man died in a Riyadh detention center.
"We agreed in a meeting between officials from the two countries on Nov. 5 at 10:30 a.m. Jeddah time that we will prioritize old people, pregnant women, toddlers and people with illnesses," said Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI).
Saudi immigration officials began a kingdom-wide sweep for undocumented workers on Monday, netting at least 7,885 Indonesian citizens by Wednesday. The oil-rich kingdom, long a destination for low-skilled workers from Asia and Africa, has been cracking down on undocumented migrants in recent months as local unemployment rates reached 12.5 percent.
One of the men detained in the raids, Didin Jaenudin Sahroji, of Sukabumi, West Java, died in one of Riyadh's crowded detention centers on Wednesday. His body was released to Indonesian authorities.
The death prompted consular officials, concerned over the welfare of Indonesian citizens, to mobilize a 32-person response team to prioritize flights for those most at risk, Jumhur said. Indonesians sitting in Saudi detention centers will be provided with boxed meals, water and childcare by the consulate during their stay, he said. The office will continue to secure exit permits for citizens facing deportation.
By Nov. 4, some 6,035 citizens had secured exit permits, but consular officials have struggled to book seats on flights to Indonesia amid a glut of returning Hajj pilgrims. Garuda Indonesia will send two flights to Saudi Arabia to provide flights home for vulnerable Indonesian citizens, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said in Bali on Thursday.
But prior efforts to return Indonesian migrants home were complicated by a general reluctance to leave Saudi Arabia, according to Tatang Razak, head of consular affairs at the foreign ministry in Jeddah. When the government chartered 18 planes — enough seats for more than 7,000 migrants – few chose to take advantage of the offer.
"The overstayers used only two flights — a total of 715 people," Tatang told the Indonesian newspaper Media Indonesia. "There were 3,000 people that already had the exit permit [at the time]."
The kingdom's sluggish bureaucracy, which has allegedly tied-up immigration procedures for many Indonesian citizens, has been a constant complaint since the raids began. On Monday, Saudi press reported a large protest by Indonesian migrants in Riyadh over delays in handling their applications.
Nearly 6,000 Indonesians have already returned from Saudi Arabia by Monday, some hitching a ride on a large ship heading to North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok in July. Another 15,571 completed the proper paperwork to remain in the kingdom, Jumhur said.
But those number pale in comparison with the 73,656 Indonesian migrants who remain in Saudi Arabia without proper documentation, he said. Saudi detention centers have a capacity of 40,000 detainees, making overcrowding a likely issue.
Those caught working in the kingdom without proper visas will be detained, Jumhur said. He urged the nation's undocumented migrants to remain in their homes until the raids ceased in an effort to head-off additional deportations and the possibility of another riot outside the Jeddah consulate.
"Indonesian overstayers are urged to stay calm and stay at home," Tatang previously said. "There is no need to panic or come in groups to the embassy or the consulate… Indonesian and Saudi Arabia governments will keep on cooperating to handle the issue."
Indonesian authorities have repeatedly come under fire over the poor handling of citizens working abroad. Indonesian nationals have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia, abused in Malaysia and fallen from high rises in Singapore. Efforts to stem the flow of workers to nations with a history of issues have pushed the trade underground, forcing Indonesian maids and laborers to work with sometimes unscrupulous black-market agents to secure passage and jobs.
Some 3.8 million Indonesians currently work abroad, contributing some $6 billion in remittances in 2012, according to the state-run Antara News Agency. They were the second-largest contributor to the nation's foreign reserves.
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