Indonesian House Maids in the Middle East

Recently people have started to get more interested in knowing and fighting for the rights
of migrant domestic workers in the middle east. More specifically Indonesian house maids in
some Asian countries and the Middle East. Yet some people in the middle east dont really
know that those workers or maids actually have rights, and some just ignore this fact. And in the
same time, huge number of workers or maids dont know that they have the right to stop their
employers from abusing or mistreating them.
In 2015, an article written by Michael Holtz about a woman from Hong Kong abusing her
Indonesian house maid. Michael Holtz says human rights activists argue that its current law
deter domestic helpers from reporting abuse for fear of being deported. Holtz were talking
about domestic workers in Hong Kong while same issue is present in middle east countries. In
2015, Indonesian government banned Indonesians from working as house maids in some
Middle East countries because of the law in those countries that wasnt protecting house maids
and their rights. Holtz continue to quote Norma Kang Muico a researcher for Amnesty
International, The guilty verdict is a damning indictment of the governments failure to reform
the system that traps women in a cycle of abuse and exploitation. Both agree that there is a
problem in the law that is causing employers to get away with their abasements and
mistreatment. Also, prevents Indonesian house maids from stopping the abasement and having
their rights.
In an interview done by Khaleej Times with the Indonesian consul Rijal Al-Huda, the
Indonesian consul said Since most of the GCC countries have the same system and majority
still do not have the legal framework like a labour law that caters to the rights of domestic
workers, our government decided to stop sending maids to all countries in the Middle East".
Al-Huda here suggests that there might be something missing in the law of GCC countries, and
that the law needs to be improved so that it can protect the rights of all domestic workers in
GCC countries. Same issue was discussed by the Indonesian minister of Manpower Hanif
Dhakiri as he said migrant workers in Middle Eastern countries were poorly protected from
working and human rights abuses. Almost all previous research about Indonesian maids in the
middle east claims that mistreatment and oppression was due to lack of proper law regulations
that protects domestic workers rights in those countries.
Many other workers in GCC countries dont fight for their rights and dont speak up if
anything is wrong, possibly because they dont know that they have the right to stop the
mistreatment and that it is illegal for their bosses to do such things. I thought about a solution
that could fix this problem. Maids need to be advised about their rights while working in GCC
countries, whether when they arrive here or before even travelling.
According to Reuters, Indonesian government banned maids from working in 21 middle
eastern countries because of the bad working conditions. Some house maids are being treated
as slaves, sometimes forcing them to work more than 12 hours a day. Or in many cases,
employers don't pay them their salary on time and might be late several months. As stated
previously by Hanif Dhakiri, workers in Middle East aren't protected against working abuses.
Governments in the middle east could force labour agencies to inform house maids
before arriving about their rights and their employers rights. House maids should be informed
based on previous situations that have happened to other house maids about the boundaries for
their employers, and when are they crossing it. Also, they should be given a list of numbers that
they could call to get help or ask about anything concerning their rights while working in these
countries. The numbers may be of their embassy in the country, or any organization regarding
human rights in the country that could help. Since most house maids hardly leave the houses
that they are working in, and not knowing what to do when something is wrong or bothering
them. For them, knowing that they can get help from people without their employers knowing
about it and preventing them or even abusing them even more. This way the house maids can
In an article written by Ahmad Pathoni, Ahmad mentions that according to the
Indonesian manpower ministry many employers in the middle east prevents Indonesian house
maids from returning to their country even though their contracts had expired. This issue could
be solved by placing law regulations that punishes or penalizes the employer if the house
maids contract has expired and she didnt leave the country. Another solution is to have a
governmental corporation that is responsible to keep track of all house maids in the country, and
check on them and their contracts often to prevent any abasement or mistreatment by their
employers.
Not only the house maids should know their rights, but also the employers should know
what are their rights as workers and house maids. This way the employers would know what
lines not to cross, and that they might get punished if they did anything wrong to the house
maid.
Most house maids just run away when they are being abused or mistreated here in GCC
countries, I think the main reason for that is that they dont feel that they can fight for themselves
and get their rights. Actually, the term run away shouldnt actually be used to describe the act
of those house maids, since the place that they work in isnt a prison. People dont run away
from their place of work. The consul might be right, but at the same time employers in the GCC
would still fight back for their rights, there isnt anything in the law that protects both the
employer and the house maids rights. House maids arent treated as actual employees with
limited working hours, and at the same time the employers arent being taken as actual
employers.

Works cited
 Michael Holtz Staff, writer. "Hong Kong Conviction for Maid Abuse Spotlights Global
Rights Battle." Christian Science Monitor, 10 Feb. 2015. EBSCOhost,
lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p
wh&AN=100897738&site=eds-live.

Tesorero, Angel. "Stop Hiring Indonesian Maids, Says Consul." Khaleej Times (7/2008 to
4/2009), 15 Feb. 2016. EBSCOhost,
lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p
wh&AN=2W63444421851&site=eds-live.

"Indonesia declares ban on domestic workers heading to Middle East By Ahmad

Pathoni, dpa." Deutsche Press-Agentur, 5 May 2015, Financial/Business. NewsBank,
infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1552696FE2BD6AD8?p=AWNB. Accessed 24
Apr. 2017.

Reuters. "Indonesia bans expats working to 21 Middle East countries."

ArabianBusiness.com (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), 7 May 2015, NEWS. NewsBank,
infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1552CEA05B4AA220?p=AWNB. Accessed 24
Apr. 2017.