Inside Story

The plight of domestic workers abroad

Indonesia is stopping their nationals going to Saudi Arabia to work as maids after one woman was beheaded last week.

Indonesia is stopping all maids from going to work in Saudi Arabia after the beheading of a maid last week for murdering her allegedly abusive employer.

The execution of 54-year-old Ruhati Binti Sapahi caused public outrage in Indonesia, prompting the government to call for the ban.

Saudi Arabia did not inform the Indonesian ambassador that the execution was going to take place but apologised afterwards for the “mistake”.

Twenty-two other Indonesian workers are also on death row in Saudi Arabia.  

Indonesia has 1.5 million workers in Saudi Arabia alone, most of them women. In total Indonesia has 6 million workers abroad, again mainly women. Last year they remitted $7bn to their families in Indonesia.
 
But what does it take to protect their rights? And who is to blame for their suffering?

Inside Story, with presenter Folly Bah Thibault, discusses with Simel Esim, a senior regional technical specialist on gender equality and women worker’s rights for the International Labour Organization, and Christoph Wilcke, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, specialising in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

This episode of Inside Story aired from June 28, 2011.