by Khetam Malkawi | Sep 18, 2012 | JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — More than 150 out of 340 Indonesian domestic workers, who were living in their embassy after fleeing their employers, were repatriated to their country on Tuesday, according to Indonesian Ambassador Zainulbahar Noor.

At a press meeting on Tuesday, the ambassador expressed appreciation for a Cabinet decision to waive these workers’ visa fees and allow them to leave the country.

He noted that without the government’s cooperation, it would not have been possible to send the runaway workers home, adding that keeping them at the embassy cost JD20,000 per month.

The Indonesian government decided to stop sending domestic helpers to Jordan in July 2010, but despite the ban, more than 5,000 Indonesian workers have entered the Kingdom since then through third countries, an official from the embassy said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the workers who came after July 2010 were not trained, and some of them were told they would go to other countries, leading some to flee their places of work.

Others ran away due to maltreatment by their employers, while “some of them were not paid for several months or years”, the official explained.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian ambassador said there are currently some 48,000 Indonesian domestic helpers in Jordan.

Approximately 37,000 of them are registered at the embassy but most of their work permits are no longer valid, while the rest are illegal workers, according to Noor, who added that the embassy will ask Indonesian authorities to allow the re-employment of those who are currently in Jordan.

Also on Tuesday, more than 60 Indonesian workers and students arrived in Amman from Syria.

These Indonesian nationals will travel back home through Jordan.

http://jordantimes.com/over-150-indonesian-workers–repatriated-after-govt-waives-fees