Sumiati's torture is worse than slavery: Legislator

The alleged torture of Sumiati, an Indonesian domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, is worse than what occurred during slavery, a lawmaker says.

“The cases of violence experienced by female domestic workers have surpassed [those] occurring during the era of slavery,” House of Representatives Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq said.

Mahfudz said the government must not ignore the situation by hiding behind slogans and calling Indonesian migrant workers “foreign exchange heroes”.

The government has no choice but to halt sending Indonesians overseas to work as domestic workers, he said.

“This is for the sake of national pride and to safeguard all Indonesians' human rights,” he said as reported by kompas.com.

The government should not send workers without sufficient education and skills to prevent the repetition of such cases.

“The government must limit…Indonesian migrant workers to those who are educated and have special skills,” he added. (thejakartapost)

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