Workers vanish in Middle East

Workers vanish in Middle East

The Jakarta Post, Sukabumi, West Java | National | Mon, May 06 2013, 2:59 PM


Relatives have lost contact for years with seven workers in the Middle East, the Indonesian migrant workers union (SBMI) of West Java said.

Their whereabouts have been unknown for four to 10 years, SBMI chairwoman Jejen Nurjanah said on Monday.

The foreign affairs ministry and the Worker Protection and Recruitment Agency (BP3TKI) have been working together to trace the workers, who mostly worked as housemaids. SBMI also is handling the case of a dead worker from Sukabumi.

"Over the past two months we received reports of 24 cases of workers facing problems abroad," she said as quoted by Antara news agency.

In Syria an Indonesian was been detained by her employer for 18 months without pay, she said.

Workers returning home are often victims of extortion and cheating by airport officers.

Earlier Hasan Abdullah, head of West Java BP3TKI, said the agency had received 34 reports about problem of workers aboard mainly lost contact or unpaid salaries.