Just days after news reports on a gruesome Indonesian maid death arrests were made by the local police on charges of human trafficking.
The Indonesian authorities nabbed two more persons (in addition to the maid’s three employers) in relation to her death. The husband and wife duo acted as employment recruiters and reportedly used fake documents to send Adelina Sau, 20, to Malaysia.
Channel New Asia reports that Sau disappeared from her impoverished village in the East Nusa Tenggara, a province of Indonesia, in 2015. This, after her family rebuffed the recruiters and refused to send their daughter with the couple.
Sau’s mother, Yohana Banunaek, told AFP, “The man came again with all this fake paperwork and the next day we could not find Adelina. We believe she had gone with the man.”
The fudged paperwork stated that Adelina was reportedly six years older than her actual age.
Indonesian maid death arrests uncovered a web of human trafficking
It was after Sau came to her employers that she was abused. And, as we reported earlier, the young woman was forced to sleep outside their house with their pet rottweiler for over a month.
Even though Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim’s office and migrant rights group Tenaganita came forward to help Sau, they couldn’t save her.
Nobody could save the severely wounded Adelina
At the hospital, authorities reportedly found wounds on Adelina’s arms and legs as well as several bruises on her face.
When Sim’s office questioned her employers, they were told that Adelina had defecated in their kitchen’s drainage. This led to a blockage and so her employers asked her to use a chemical to clear it. However, she accidentally poured it over herself and bruised her body, they claimed.
Indonesian maid death arrests have opened a Pandora’s box of sinister human trafficking schemes. | Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab
“The maid accidentally spilled the chemical on her own legs and arms, and caused chemical burn. The employer’s daughter said that they bought iodine and medicine for the maid to apply on her wound. She also claimed that the maid did not stop agitating her wound and caused the wound to worsen,” Sim’s office said in an official statement.
Human trafficking on the rise in Malaysia
With the two arrests, it seems that the fate of Adelina is not an isolated case. Many young persons like her end up as trafficked migrant workers.
Around 2.5 million migrant workers come to Malaysia from nearby impoverished Indonesian provinces. Channel New Asia reports that 62 migrant workers from East Nusa Tenggara died last year in Malaysia.
“Adelina was the eighth death this year, though most were from accidents or illness,” the daily added.
The Indonesian maid death arrests have once again brought the issue of human trafficking to the forefront. But it has also made it necessary for employers to be more vigilant when they hire a maid.
3 things to keep in mind before hiring a maid
As mentioned in out previous article, Singapore Expat Solutions has some easy tips on maid management. However, these tips can be kept in mind even when you are hiring a maid for the first time.
1. Keep everything in order
Your new maid needs to have completed her last medical and ensure that her next medical is not required within the next two months. (If not, her current employer needs to send her on her medical and have her results lodged with MOM.)
Her passport needs to have a minimum of six months validity. She needs permission from her current employer to transfer, and together, they will need to sign the declaration of the transfer application.
2. Complete the transfer application form
Login to WPOnline using your Singpass and fill out the transfer application form. Once approved, you have your In Principle Approval Letter. You can then apply for the FDW Insurance and Bond.
3. Prepare helper’s work pass
You can now apply for the your helper’s work pass to be issued online using WPOnline. Please note that your transfer helper may not begin work with you until her work pass has been received. It is now your responsibility as the employer to draw up a contract and maintain salary records. You will also have to make sure she goes for her health checkup every six months.
Sources: Channel News Asia, Today
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