The Perils of Indonesian Domestic Workers Abroad

Indonesia is a very poor country. So their young women are recruited to work as domestic servants for the wealthy in Hong Kong and especially in the Arab world. The Saudis, UAE, and other wealthy Gulf states treat labor like garbage. The almost entirely foreign workforce has third class status, is often beaten and starved, and has little ability to resist regimes that simply don’t care if they live or die. It’s gotten so bad that Indonesia has now banned its citizens from work as maids in pretty much the entire Middle East and North Africa. Too many deaths. 40 Indonesian maids currently are facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, mostly for resisting sexual assault or physical violence.