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Netherlands: In Memory of Slamet Heri Sutarjo, a beloved leader among domestic workers

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by IDWFED published Dec 09, 2012 12:00 AM
With sadness I share with you the lost of our friend Slamet Heri Sutarjo. He was a beloved leader among domestic workers and president of the Indonesian migrant group in The Netherlands. Below is a link to a memorial video that was first presented in the Cleaners and Domestic Workers parliament in Amsterdam, celebrated on Dec 3.

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Read the original article in full: A Migrant’s Tale in His Own Words | JakartaGlobe

By Rebeca Pabon

Dear friends from the IDWN,

With sadness I share with you the lost of our friend Slamet Heri Sutarjo. He was a beloved leader among domestic workers and president of the Indonesian migrant group in The Netherlands. Below is a link to a memorial video that was first presented in the Cleaners and Domestic Workers parliament in Amsterdam, celebrated on Dec 3.

Also, you can read an article that our friend Celia Mather help to edit and write about Heri's live story:

A Migrant’s Tale in His Own Words
Celia Mather & Slamet Heri | August 06, 2011

Slamet Heri is from Cilacap, Central Java. Now 30, he has been living and working in the Netherlands since August 2006. The unique story, told in his on words, of how he ended up there says much about the life endured by migrant workers across the world.

Millions of Indonesians now go abroad for work. Because of his experiences, Heri is now the chairperson of the newly formed Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union in the Netherlands. Journalist Celia Mather spoke to him in Geneva at a gathering of migrant workers to discuss the International Labor Organization’s convention for domestic workers’ rights. Here is Heri’s story.

“Originally, I got a degree in Teaching and Education Studies at university in Klaten, Central Java. Then, while waiting for a job, I got involved in voluntary work at a youth center, where I organized seminars on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. I also got active in the Indonesian Youth Partnership and the Indonesian Aids Foundation. I funded these activities — and my studies — by working as a security guard at an asphalt factory.

“I heard about an opportunity to go for education and work experiences in Japan. They said I could get a job at an electronics factory and receive training in business studies. So I went to Jakarta for six months training to learn about the language, culture and how to work in Japan. For some reason the company pulled out midway. I still wanted to go to Japan. Unhappily, I had fallen into the hands of a bogus agency, one so bad I have called it a ‘mafia agency.’

“For over a year I stayed in Jakarta, waiting to go to Japan. I was unemployed but I had to pay the agency for accommodation and fees. It was all a scam. At one point, the agency even suggested falsifying my passport and sending me to the US. I didn’t want that. I wanted to go to Japan in my own name.

“I went back home for a while. Then one day the agency rang. All was now fixed. I thought, ‘At last I’m going to Japan.’ But no, they were sending me to Spain. They said that work permits, wages, accommodation were all guaranteed and I would be met at the Barcelona airport.

“None of it was true. There was no one to meet me and the other migrant workers off the plane. There were no work permits, just tourist visas for three weeks, and the contract was fake. For several days we paid for a hotel room and waited, but no one came. So we made a decision to survive, but not in Spain. We opened up a map of Europe and each one chose where to go. Some chose Germany or Switzerland. One headed back to Indonesia, still wanting to go to Japan — he is now working in South Korea.

“I chose the Netherlands, because Indonesia was a colony of that country and I thought there might be more Indonesians there. So four of us – two men and two women – bought bus tickets and got off in Amsterdam. We had only ten days left on our visas. And I knew my debt totalled about Rp 75 million [$8,850]. Luckily we met another Indonesian woman at the bus station and she found us a temporary place to stay. We spent the next days looking for other Indonesians who could help us find jobs. For a while we shadowed friends, learning how to do a job and how to communicate with employers. For about a year we were like that, three to a room.

“Many Indonesian migrant workers in the Netherlands are undocumented like I am. None that I know of have a work permit. Actually there is no official contract system between the Netherlands and Indonesia in the domestic work sector, only in some other sectors such as nursing. So most of us become domestic workers, cleaners and gardeners. Many are victims of fraud. There seem to be a lot of us. We often meet each other in the street.

“I have done a lot of different jobs: gardening, babysitting, cleaning, ironing, massage, construction, carpentry and painting. I have worked for registered companies, even though I’m undocumented.

“By 2009, I had gotten sick. I was diagnosed with a rare heart malfunction. I was treated for three months at home and then spent a month in hospital. It turns out that my heart functions only 8 per cent of what it should, and eventually the doctors decided to fit me with a pacemaker. With this, I couldn’t fly home. So the doctors and lawyers helped me get a residence permit. I didn’t have to pay any of my health care costs, thanks to my doctors, the [government] health care insurance and donations from friends. I am truly grateful. Now I pay into the social insurance system in Holland and I work as a volunteer organizer with the EuroMoslim Amsterdam foundation.

“In some ways, my illness was a blessing. Although I am an undocumented migrant, I was able to access the Dutch health care system.

“The idea for the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union in the Netherlands [IMWU NL] grew after some of us met with Filipinos in the Netherlands who had built such a group for themselves. They gave us a lot of advice. So we started off with a few people and on Jan. 2, we set up the IMWU NL. It is for any Indonesian migrant worker in the country.

“The FNV Bondgenoten trade union has given us help and some room space. From there, we provide information on migrants’ rights and health care access, legal aid, assistance in negotiating with employers, language courses and so on.

“Right now there is a proposal in the Netherlands to criminalize undocumented migrant workers. However, there is a coalition growing to fight this. We need recognition and respect because we certainly contribute to the economy. We are workers, not criminals. So we want the same rights as other workers, including such things as unemployment benefits and paid holidays.

For myself, I am looking for an employer who will get me a work permit. Then my status will change. Right now, I cannot go home to Indonesia and then return to Europe. I would really like to see my family again but, as I am still looking after my health, these are hard choices to make. Hopefully everything will work out fine.”

He will always be with us! Respect!

Rebeca Pabon
IDWN Steering Committee member

Source: Rebeca Pabon

Story Type: News

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