"The DPR stance is urging the Indonesian government to temporarily stop sending workers to the Middle East due to a lot of violence on Indonesian workers there, with the latest one affecting Ruyati," deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said when presiding over a DPR plenary meeting here on Tuesday.
Priyo said Indonesia must temporarily stop sending workers to the region while seeking cooperation for the protection of its workers in Saudi Arabia.
The moratorium will be halted later only after the Indonesian and Saudi governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the protection of Indonesian workers, he said.
Priyo said based on suggestions and demands from members at a plenary meeting forum the DPR had submitted five recommendations to the government in connection with the call for a moratorium on sending workers to the Middle East.
The recommendations include a call for the government to set up a task force to deal with 23 Indonesian workers currently facing death penalty in Saudi and make an inventory of Indonesian workers abroad facing other legal cases.
In connection with the Ruyati case Priyo said the DPR asked the government to openly ask for an apology to Ruyati`s family on national newspapers and seek efforts to meet their rights including the returning of Ruyati`s body.
The DPR has also recommended the ministries concerned that they seriously handle the placement and protection of workers.
To the foreign ministry, the ministries of manpower, justice and human rights and social affairs as well as the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI) to conduct coordination to respond to worker`s problems abroad.
Ruyati was executed in Saudi Arabia at 3am local time on Saturday (June 18) or around 3pm West Indonesia Time after the Saudi court ruled she was guilty of killing her employer.
Many quarters in the country have criticized the government for being considered having failed to protect her. The government meanwhile has said that it was only informed about the execution by the Saudi government only after it execution had been carried out.
(T.R024/H-YH/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
