Migrant Worker’s Fight Against Chronic Trauma

Name: Migrant Worker’s Fight Against Chronic Trauma
Uploaded: 2021-02-17T05:14:50Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Turini kiosk at Siwalk Tourism Park, Setupatok, Cirebon, West Java, was deserted due to the pandemic. However, she tried to be strong, just like when she was traumatized in a foreign land.

Turini kiosk at Siwalk Tourism Park, Setupatok, Cirebon, West Java, was deserted due to the pandemic. However, she tried to be strong, just like when she was traumatized in a foreign land.

ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

· 5 minutes read

The cloudy morning on Tuesday (2/2/2021) seemed to represent the sadness of Turini (48). Her kiosk at Siwalk Tourism Park, Setupatok, Cirebon, West Java, was deserted due to the pandemic. However, she tried to be strong, just like when she was traumatized in a foreign land.

Tears rolled down Turini\'s cheeks, washing the cosmetics from her face as she recalled her story as a migrant worker. "Had I known my fate would be this bad, how could I possibly go to Saudi Arabia," said the resident of Dawuan, Tengah Tani district, Cirebon.

Turini left for Saudi Arabia as a domestic assistant in 1998 with a hope to make a better life. Her husband, Samsudin (53), was only a casual daily laborer during the 1998 monetary crisis. When Turini was 18 years old, she had to leave Diah Ardika, her first child born in 1991, and Menda, her youngest, who was still a baby at that time.

Had I known my fate would be this bad, how could I possibly go to Saudi Arabia.

She departed for Saudi Arabia under the arrangement of an Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) supplier company in East Jakarta. She didn\'t know whether the company was legal or not. The fact was her documents were taken by the sponsor (recruiter) and the supplier company.

After several years in Saudi Arabia, she had only been able to send Rp 20 million (to her family in Cirebon). After that, she no longer received her salary. When her employer died, she was transferred to another employer. Her fate was increasingly unclear.

Also read: Cutting the Slavery Chain

Also read: Gaining Profits from Repeated Suffering

Communication with her family in Cirebon was cut off, for as long as 15 years. Letters from her family never reached Turini. Her employer changed her name and address. "My name was Fatma. I was prohibited from going out of the house,” she recalled.

For years, her family tried to find Turini. However, the company that sent her (to Saudi Arabia) went bankrupt. The millions of rupiah spent to pay for the ones who promised to send Turini back home were wasted.

Hope emerged in March 2019 when Turini met Lisa, a Filipino who worked as a domestic assistant for the relative of Turini’s employer. Lisa uploaded Turini\'s experience on social media. She also reported the incident to the police. Ironically, Lisa was beaten by her employer and was fired. "Even though Lisa’s religion was different from mine, she was a helping angel," said Turini.

The news from Lisa made the tracking process easier for the team of the Manpower Ministry, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) and the Foreign Affairs Ministry through the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh. After going through a long process, Turini was returned to Cirebon, on July 22, 2019.

Turini\'s misery did not end when she arrived in Indonesia. She had to deal with a new chapter to collect her lost memories. The long suffering while in Saudi Arabia traumatized Turini. Her family were like strangers to her.

Also read: Protecting Indonesian Citizens Abroad

Samsudin patiently tried to restore Turini\'s memory. Without the provision of psychological counseling theory, over time, love unites them. In fact, they remarried in front of a penghulu (clerk) and witnesses.

The government also helped her get her unpaid salary of more than Rp 600 million. Part of the money was used to open a kiosk at Siwalk Tourism Park last year. Before the pandemic, she could earn Rp 300,000 to Rp 500,000 per day. Now, the kiosk serving various drinks and snacks was deserted. However, Samsudin and Turini did not give up.

Human trafficking

Turini\'s story has become a black portrait of Indonesia\'s human trafficking crime (TIP). She was recruited not based on contract and was exploited to work without pay. It is not uncommon for victims of human trafficking overseas to return lifeless or unable to return at all.

The Cirebon Manpower and Transmigration Office received 42 reports of migrant workers from Cirebon having problems in 2020. Most of them were cases of contract expiration (eight people), unpaid salaries (seven), and death (six). This number was an increase compared to 2019, when there were 28 cases.

At the same time, 2,803 migrant workers from Cirebon left the country in 2020. This number was less than the previous year, when 9,931 people left. This decline was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.