Paras Indonesia, August, 03 2006 @ 12:30 am
Saudis Deported For Unlawfully Wedded Wives
By: Roy Tupai
Five Saudi Arabian men have been deported after they followed Vice President
[Moron] Jusuf Kalla's advice to visit Indonesia and buy short-term "contract wives" in
the West Java hillside resort area of Puncak.
Acting on tip-offs from local residents, police and immigration officials at 10pm
Monday (31/7/06) began raiding villas and hotels in Cisarua subdistrict, Puncak,
which is part of Bogor regency. When the raids concluded at 3am Tuesday, the
officials had nabbed more than 20 people, including six Saudi men.
As is all too common in Indonesia, the raids were filmed by local television networks,
which later broadcast footage of the officials eagerly grabbing and interrogating the
frightened young women, while the apprehended Saudi men looked on sheepishly.
Bogor Immigration Office on Wednesday deported five of the Saudis via Jakarta for
abusing the terms of their short-stay tourist visas, while the sixth was released due to
a lack of evidence.
Puncak has long been a popular tourist destination for Arab men willing to pay for
short-term sexual relationships with young women. The prostitution is given a thin
veneer of religious respectability by some local Islamic clerics and village chiefs, who
charge a fee for blessing and certifying contract weddings, even though such
marriages are not recognized by the state.
At a tourism marketing seminar on June 28, Kalla [Moron] called on Arab men to visit
Puncak to buy contract wives, claiming the short-term marriages would bring financial
benefits to the women and produce children with "good genes" so "there will be more
television actors and actresses from these pretty boys and girls".
[Moron] Kalla's remarks outraged women's rights activists, who condemned the vice
president for promoting sex tourism. They said the contract marriages are a form of
prostitution and encourage poor families to sell their daughters for sex.
Legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P) accused Kalla [Moron] of denigrating women and endorsing the sale of women
to foreigners. She demanded he issue a public apology and formally retract his
statement. She also accused Kalla [Moron] of hypocrisy, pointing out that when he
served as coordinating minister for people's welfare under ex-president Megawati
Sukarnoputri, he had publicly opposed the trafficking of women.
Fellow legislator Badriyah Fayumi of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said
[Moron] Kalla's statement was condescending not only to Indonesian women but also
to Indonesian men. "The statement meant that Jusuf [Moron] Kalla considers male
Indonesian genes inferior to foreign genes. It is inappropriate for a public official at the
level of vice president to make such a comment," he said.
Responding to the outburst of criticism, Kalla [Moron] claimed he had been joking.
His spokesman Muchlish Hasyim later said the vice president apologized if his
remarks had caused any offense.
Bogor Immigration Office head Yeyet Oking said this week's crackdown on short-term
marriages was prompted by the barrage of complaints about [Moron] Kalla's remarks.
He said the five Saudis had violated Law No.9/1992 on Immigration because they
misused their tourist visas by illegally marrying locals. He said they had also violated
public order and could have faced up to six years in jail if convicted of breaking the
law.
"Short-term marriages are an act of disrespect for our marriage law. Besides, they
have also misused their tourist visas," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"Basically it's concealed prostitution and they do this not to raise a family but to have
short-term pleasures," he added.
A Bogor Police detective named Jeffry told Agence France-Presse the women
detained during the raids would be released from local police headquarters after
receiving "moral guidance" so they do not repeat their offense.
Bogor Police chief Senior Commissioner Sukrawardi Dahlan on Tuesday said the
crackdown would continue because residents of Cisarua had complained about the
short-term relationships between local women and foreigners. "They have violated
Indonesian marital regulations," he was quoted as saying by state news agency
Antara.
Named & Shamed
Following are full details of the Cisarua raids, as reported by the Kompas daily's
online edition:
The first target was Villa Cokro in Ciburial, but officials were left red-faced after failing
to find any illegally married couples there.
Next was Villa Aldita at Warung Kaleng in Tugu village. This time the officials hit
paydirt, nabbing four contract wives and their Saudi "husbands". The couples were
identified as Diana Binti Udin (20) and Mohammad Almuhan; Riyani Binti M. Yunus
(20) and Sulaeman Saud A. Altraigi; Nina Lestari (18) and Ali Dhafer M. Aldosari; and
Yuli Astuti (19) and Abdullah Shuraie M. Alhrarshah.
Almuhan had married Diana Udin on August 31, 2005, for a fee of Rp3 million at a
ceremony blessed by a cleric named Salim. The pimp who arranged the marriage
contract was identified as Ratna, who was paid Rp1.5 million. Diana also received
Rp1.5 million.
Altraigi married Riyani Yunus on August 15, 2003, at a hotel in Senen, Central
Jakarta, for a fee of Rp10 million. Riyanai's mother Rosillah acted as the witness at
the wedding, which was blessed by the bride's uncle Husen.
Aldosari married Nina Lestari on July 30, 2006, at Villa Aldita. According to their
marriage contract, Aldosari would provide his teenage bride with Rp500,000 for each
day they were together. But Nina complained that Aldosari had so far failed to meet
his end of the bargain.
Alhrarshah married Yuli Astuti on July 30, 2006. Their wedding contract also said the
bride would be paid Rp500,000 every day. Likewise, Yuli said Alhrarshah had not yet
paid her any money.
The next target of the raids was Villa GBI, where the officials found two couples who
had entered contract marriages. They were identified as Marini Binti Tjetjep (19) and
Saad Mousa A. Alshamrani; and Erni Kurniawati (18) and Abdul Rahman Awad A.
Alshamrani.
Alshamrani married Marini on July 26, 2006, at the residence of Ibu Haji Uwan (the
honorific Ibu Haji means Mrs Uwan has made the haj pilgrimage to Mecca) in Nagrak,
Warung Menteng village, Cijeruk subdistrict. Marini's father blessed the wedding,
although he had to split the proceeds of the Rp5 million bridal fee with two
intermediaries, H. Achmad and Ibu Haji Uwan.
The report said Achmad and Uwan had acted as pimps in arranging other contract
marriages, including that of Alshamrani and Erni. Alshamrani paid Rp4 million for his
teenage bride. The two were married on July 28, 2006, at Uwan's house with Erni's
older brother Kadi blessing the ceremony.
The police and immigration officials also nabbed 11 young women who had become
contract wives and been left by their "husbands". The 11 were brought to Cisarua
Police precinct. Seven of them were identified as Mumun, Aida, Ani, Yanti, Rina, Selfi
and Sarah.
Aida and Sarah said they were students at private tertiary institutions in Jakarta and
had become contract wives to pay for their tuition. More on them later.
Several couples and abandoned contract wives reportedly escaped arrest and fled
their villas after local ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers warned them that raids were in
progress.
During the raids, police also uncovered an alleged child trafficking operation. Officers
arrested a pimp named Maria who was allegedly in possession of five young female
teenagers on sale for sex.
Bogor Police chief Dahlan said the marriage contract business was very deeply rooted
in the area and involved several sectors of the community. "It has become a source of
livelihood for some residents. As a result of this, we were obstructed when conducting
the raids," he said.
Risky Business
Saudi Arabia's Gulf News on June 16, 2006, ran an article on Indonesian contract
marriages, warning that some brokers or brides are swindlers who just take the
money and run. The report said many young Arab men enjoyed holidaying in
Indonesia, where they were tempted to try "temporary marriages".
"They were lured by the false promises of the gang members of marriages to beautiful
young women under 18 at cheap rates," said the article.
Following are a couple of the article's contract marriage horror stories experienced by
young Saudis visiting Jakarta.
One of the Saudi youths, who was cheated by the gangs, told Gulf News: "While I
was taking my meals at an Arab restaurant in Jakarta, I heard some young men
asking whether anybody wanted to get married to beautiful young girls. I did not pay
any attention to them in the beginning. When they repeated the offer for the third time,
I was interested and expressed my willingness. They then took me to a marriage
bureau and I was introduced to a man called Haider. After a short while, Haider
paraded five young women in front of me and asked me to select one. When I had
chosen one of them and agreed on a dowry of four million rupiah, the marriage notary
appeared with witnesses and solemnized the marriage ceremony. When I took my
bride to a nearby hotel, she was clearly bewildered. While I was trying to be friendly
with her, she asked me if she could go out to the nearby pharmacy to buy some
medicine and I agreed not knowing that she would never return."
The same was the case with another Saudi youth but with a slight difference. He went
to the marriage bureau and told the story of his wife's disappearance. The bureau staff
members promised to help him find her. On leaving the building, he saw his bride
going into the same office in the company of some other girls in order to be paraded in
front of the new "victims". When he tried to stop her, the security guards held him and
the door was slammed shut.
Students Become Contract Wives to Cover Tuition
Back to Cisarua and the story of Aida (22) and Sarah (20), the two detained contract
wives who said they were Jakarta college students.
The pair said they had entered into contract marriages in order to pay for their tuition
fees. Aida said she attended a college in Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta, while Sarah
said she was studying at a college in Kalibata, South Jakarta.
Sarah said she started out in the business three years ago. "I fell into the contract
marriage business when I was offered a job in Saudi Arabia with a very big salary by a
woman who called herself Astuti. I had only just met her at one of the popular discos
in Jakarta," she said.
She said Astuti promised to line her up with a lucrative job at a restaurant owned by a
business colleague in Saudi Arabia. But before Sarah could take the job, she was
required become acquainted with Astuti's colleague, who would soon be holidaying in
Puncak. Tantalized by the prospect of a big salary equivalent to tens of millions of
rupiah, Sarah accepted the offer. "At that time I was finding it really difficult to
continue attending lectures because of the high fees," said the blonde haired woman
from East Jakarta.
Sarah was next approached by one of Astuti's associates, who she soon realized was
merely a pimp. "He said the boss of the restaurant in Saudi Arabia wanted to meet
me. By coincidence he was on holiday in Puncak."
She said the Saudi, whose name was Ahmed Abdul, promised to cover all of her
expenses and her salary once she started working in Saudi Arabia. But there was a
condition. "The condition was that I must first want to escort him, by becoming his
contract wife, whenever he was in Puncak, about every four months."
Over the past three years, Sarah has become a contract wife to three Saudis, while
her dream a high paying job in Saudi Arabia has evaporated. "I've already had three
Arab husbands, although the status of our marriages was only contracts," she said.
The curvaceous Aida from Semper in North Jakarta had a different story, explaining
that she had decided it was better to become a contract wife rather than end up as a
street prostitute to meet her tuition fees. "Rather than engaging in prostitution on the
street, which is known as becoming a public toilet, it was more tolerable for me to
enter a contract marriage. This would provide me with a livelihood so I wouldn't have to
go on the street," she said.
Both Sarah and Aida said they used the services of brokers who set them up with
men from the Middle East for short-term marriages, which took place quickly and
simply in Puncak.
At first glance, the contracts for such marriages appear genuine, being signed by the
village chief, a cleric, a witness and a representative of the girl's parents. But the
paperwork is deceptive as the marriages are merely a form of veiled prostitution. For
example, the Arab has to pay a dowry ranging from Rp10 million to Rp15 million and
he can then abandon his "wife" when he returns to his homeland.
Sarah said her "husbands" had each paid Rp15 million, which she then had to split
with the broker, the village chief, the witness and the guardian. "I myself only received
Rp8 million," she said.
Sex Trafficking Victims
At least 60 girls from West Java's Cianjur regency have been trafficked to Batam
island off the northeast coast of Sumatra and sold into prostitution there, a local
legislator said Wednesday.
Rina Mardiah, secretary of the Cianjur Legislative Assembly's Commission VI on
people's welfare, told Antara that a survey of several nightspots on Batam revealed
that many girls from Cianjur were working there as prostitutes. She said employment
recruitment firms had tricked the girls by offering them high paying jobs in restaurants,
hotels or bars, but then forced them to become prostitutes.
"They admitted to being deceived by brokers for Indonesian migrant workers and
some of them were sold to the owners of discos and pubs to be employed as women
as outlets for lust," she was quoted as saying by Antara.
Mardiah said one 16-year-old girl, Gendis, was sold to a Batam nightspot for Rp4
million ($440) by a recruitment firm that had promised her a job as a waitress in
Jakarta. "But later the underage girl was sold to Batam for a high price."
She said Cianjur legislators had tried to rescue the girls, but many of them refused to
return home because they "felt dirty" and were ashamed to face their families.
The Cianjur chapter of the Indonesian Women's Political Caucus urged the local
government to exercise stricter control over nightlife areas, especially in the
Cipanas-Puncak region, as these places had become hotbeds of female sex
trafficking.
Caucus coordinator Titin Suastini said efforts were being taken to make young women
aware of the risks of being tricked into prostitution.
"The administration and police must be proactive in disclosing cases like this
because the trafficking problem is not only a criminal matter but also involves the
self-esteem of the nation," she said.
Most of the clients in the sex trade on Batam are men from nearby Singapore, rather
than Saudis.
Saudi Woman Jailed for Enslaving Indonesian Maid
A court in the US state of Colorado on Tuesday sentenced a Saudi woman to two
months in jail for treating her Indonesian maid/nanny as a virtual slave for four years.
Sarah Khonaizan (35) was ordered to pay $90,000 in compensation and ordered not
to have any contact with the 24-year-old woman. The defendant's sentence will be
reduced by 15 days of jail time already served.
A federal judge last week sentenced Khonaizan to five years of probation and ordered
her to pay compensation of $26,275 for harboring the Indonesian woman as an illegal
immigrant.
Khonaizan is expected to be deported after completing her sentence. She and her
Saudi husband, Homaidan Al-Turki (37) were accused of hiding the woman's passport
and forcing her to cook and clean for the family and take care of their five children at
their Aurora home for a four-year period ending in November 2004.
Prosecutors said the maid slept on a mattress on the basement floor and was paid
less than $2 a day. Actually, $2 a day is equivalent to Rp18,000 a day, which
amounts to Rp547,000 a month or Rp6.57 million a year, which is more than some
Indonesian families pay their maids.
Al-Turki was in June convicted of 12 counts of unlawful sexual contact by force,
threats or intimidation; false imprisonment; conspiracy to commit false imprisonment;
theft; and criminal extortion. He faces eight years to life imprisonment for each of the
sexual contact counts at his sentencing on August 31.
Prosecutors said he forced and intimidated the woman into sex acts that culminated
in her rape in late 2004. His defense lawyer argued that charges were misconstrued
cultural differences due to "cynical Islamaphobia."
Al-Turki worked at Al-Basheer Publications and Translation in Denver and was a
doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado. He faces a federal trial in October on
charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant.
The couple in April agreed to pay the victim about $64,000 to settle a Labor
Department lawsuit.
The case is not the first of an Indonesian maid being abused by a Saudi family living
in the US. In March 2005, Saudi Princess Hana Al Jader (40) living in Winchester,
Massachusetts, was arrested on federal charges of enslaving two Indonesian women
to look after her paralyzed husband Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud and their six
children. She was released on a $1 million bond and ordered to surrender her
passport while she awaits trial.
In 2001, Saudi Princess Buniah al-Saud living in Orlando, Florida, was charged with
assaulting her Indonesian maid Ismiyati Memet Suryono and pushing her down a
staircase. The criminal charge was reduced under a plea bargain to misdemeanor
assault and a small fine because the maid was unable to return to the witness stand,
as she was refused a visa to re-enter the US after traveling to Indonesia for her
mother's funeral.
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