http://www.speroforum.com/a/31903/Indonesia---Families-struggle-as-more-women-work-overseas?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+speroforum%2Fnroq+%28Spero+News%29
Indonesia: Families struggle as more women work overseas
The number of women leaving the archipelago, legally or illegally, has been
steadily climbing over the past decade, according to the National Authority for
the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers.
An estimated six million Indonesian woman - some 90 percent of all Indonesian
migrant labourers - are now working overseas, according to the authority.
Most go to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Jordon and
Qatar, with the rest are in Asia Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, Hong
Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
Many Indonesian villages are left with a shortage of women. Men, such as Edin
in Cimanggu village, in a rural farming community on Java Island, sometimes
assume the role of a single parent for years at a time.
"It's very difficult. I have to be very patient to raise them. The grandparents
cannot take care of them, so it's only me," said Edin, who has two teenagers.
His wife worked in Saudi Arabia for almost seven years, enabling the couple to
pay school fees and buy a motorcycle. But they still cannot afford their own
land or a house, he said.
His wife returns in six months from what he hopes will be her last trip. "It is
not worth it, I don't want her to go again," he said.
Photo: Esther de Jong/IRIN
While their wives are away, many Indonesia men have been left to take
care of their children alone
According to the World Bank, the registered remittances Indonesian migrant
workers send home account for more than US$6 billion annually, comprising the
second-highest source of income after oil and gas.
Paying the price
But this contribution comes at a significant cost to women and their families.
"Most of the women are in debt because of placement fees and travel costs they
have to pay the [employment] agents. It sometimes takes them the first 16
months to pay the agents back," said Yoko Doi, a specialist in migrant labour
at the World Bank in Jakarta. "They also lack financial planning."
For many, the desperately sought-after prosperity for which they sacrificed so
much remains elusive.
Nine-year-old Zikiri's mother has been working for more than two years in Saudi
Arabia and left when his sister was still a baby. She has only sent money home
once.
"His father was supposed to take care of him, but he could not do it. The kids
were dirty and did not get enough food, so we brought them here," said Ai
Syamsiyah, Zikiri's aunt.
Undeterred
Some migrant workers build big houses, but cannot afford the maintenance and
are forced to go back to work abroad. But most of the money is spent on daily
costs for schooling, food and transportation.
Wages abroad are low and the workload sometimes involves looking after entire
families alone without holidays.
Women make the most in Hong Kong, earning almost $500 per month, while in
Malaysia, they make less then $150, according to Migrant Care, an Indonesian
NGO.
But back home they make a fraction of that amount, and unemployment and poverty
are rife.
The stories about the appalling conditions experienced by migrant workers are
painful. Some women sleep in cupboards, or have no private space at all. Food
is poor and insufficient. They often work extremely long hours and are the
first to get up and the last to go to bed. An estimated 20 percent come back
abused, raped, or without being paid, according to Migrant Care.
But for the women of Cimanggu, such horror stories do not deter women from
leaving home.
"I was worried sick. If I was rich, I would not have let her go, but I could
not even send her to school. She sacrificed herself for a better economic
situation," said Eneh, whose 18-year-old daughter went to Saudi Arabia. After
two years of hard work there, her daughter returned with only $120.
ej/ey/ds
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