From The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network
Mon, Jun 20, 2011
While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was busy boasting to the world of his success in protecting Indonesia's migrant workers, the brutal execution of an Indonesian maid in Saudi Arabia may prove otherwise.
As Yudhoyono returned to Jakarta after six-day foreign visit, including to Geneva, Switzerland, where he boasted of his success in cooperating with other countries to protect Indonesian migrant workers, the beheading of Ruyati binti Satubi by the Saudi government, the clip of which was posted on Saudi Arabia-based alriyadh.com, has shocked many Indonesians at home.
Human rights activists and experts were quick to call Yudhoyono's speech shameful and worthless while others said Indonesia's diplomacy failed because NGOs knew about the execution well before the Foreign Ministry did.
"The beheading of Ruyati shows Yudhoyono's speech at the ILC [International Labour Conference] meeting was just empty. The fact is the government fails to protect migrant workers," Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
"The beheading is also clearly an embarrassment for Yudhoyono. The question is why did Saudi Arabia execute Ruyati? Were there any efforts by Yudhoyono to persuade the Saudi government to stop the execution?"
