Rights Group Condemns Online 'Sale' of Indonesian Migrant Workers
Jakarta. Advocacy group Migrant Care has condemned Indonesian migrant workers being put up for sale on Singapore-based online retail platform Carousell and called on the authorities to prosecute the alleged perpetrators.
"Migrant Care condemns this exploitation, which is a form of human slavery, and urges legal action against the perpetrators," Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said in a statement on Sunday (16/09).
A Carousell user under the name "maid.recruitment" reportedly posted several listings of domestic workers from Indonesia, including their names and ages.
As of Monday, the user and the listings were no longer available on the website.
Carousell was established in 2012 and operates in several countries in Asia, including Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
According to Wahyu, this type of exploitation has occurred before. He cited an example of advertisements offering Indonesian maids for sale that were put up in the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
He also mentioned a separate case in Singapore involving migrant workers being put on display in stores, which he described as "very unfair and demeaning to the dignity" of the affected persons.
"In the future, there must be a criterion and code of conduct in providing information regarding job vacancies and the employment of migrant workers, which must be in accordance with human rights requirements," Wahyu said.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower said on Friday that it was investigating the matter.
"We are investigating these cases, and have arranged for these listings to be taken down," the ministry said in a Facebook post.
It added that advertisements for foreign domestic workers were unacceptable and considered an offense under Singapore's Employment Agencies Act. Any employment agencies found guilty of this practice face sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of their operating licenses.
According to the Migrant Worker Protection and Placement Agency (BNP2TKI), more than 4 million Indonesians have gone abroad over the past 12 years, mostly to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East, where they are employed as laborers or housemaids.
Tags: Keywords: