Indonesia to ban export of workers to Saudi Arabia

A moratorium will take effect on August 1st. The ban is partly a result of reaction to the beheading of an Indonesian maid. The maid had killed her employer with a meat cleaver after he denied her request to visit her home.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian president condemned the beheading and accused Riyadh of breaking the "norms and manners" of international relations. The president said:"I decided to apply a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia, to be in effect on August 1, but starting from today, steps toward this have begun"

The president noted that he moratorium will apply "until Indonesia and Saudi Arabia can come to an agreement to give rights necessary for Indonesian workers," he added."[The suspension] will take effect on August 1 and will remain until Indonesia and Saudi Arabia can come to an agreement to give rights necessary for Indonesian workers"

Indonesia is also considering a similar ban to other Gulf states where human rights activists say migrant workers also face abuse and exploitation. THe president's comments reflect Indonesia's growing anger over the abuse and maltreatment that many of its citizens have to endure while working in the Gulf countries.

The execution of the maid also prompted calls from Indonesian rights activists for the scrapping of the death penalty. Indonesia carries out executions by firing squad.There are about 1.2 million Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, most of them working as maids, who are a valuable source of foreign exchange reserves and help reduce unemployment in Southeast Asia's leading economy. A total of Twenty-three Indonesians currently face execution in Saudi Arabia, where people convicted of murder are beheaded in public.