Four years ago, an Indonesian woman suffered memory loss and had her cognitive abilities impaired following a stroke in Saudi Arabia, where authorities believe she was employed as a domestic worker. Now, Indonesian authorities are helping her find herself and her family as she recovers from an extremely tragic period in her life.
According to Indonesian officials, the woman, who was given the name Aminah by a hospital in Saudi, was found dumped on the side of the road in the city of Jeddah in 2015. At the time, Aminah could not remember anything and had lost her ability to speak, which medical professionals in Saudi attributed to her suffering a stroke.
Over the next four years, Aminah was treated at two Saudi hospitals but showed little sign of cognitive recovery. With the help of the Consulate General in Jeddah, Aminah was flown back to Indonesia in September 2018, but mysteries surrounding her identity remain to this day.
Aminah was treated at several hospitals over the past few months, including ones in Jakarta, but, due to her receptiveness to Sundanese — the language native to the majority of West Java — she was transferred to Al Ihsan hospital in the province’s capital of Bandung last Friday.
Officials from the hospital told Detik today that Aminah is showing signs of recovery from her stroke and is now able to say simple words, like repeatedly saying “mamah”, as if calling for her mother, while she cries.
“Now, now, don’t be sad. We are looking for your family. Pray that we find them soon,” the hospital’s spokesperson, Zaenal Muttaqin, said while consoling Aminah.
Aminah also managed to write on a piece of paper what may be the names of her village and district in Cianjur, West Java, as well as Ridwan, which is the name of her 10-year-old son.
However, no family member have yet come to claim her.
“If anybody knows Aminah, please get in contact with the Manpower and Transmigration Agency (Disnakertrans) of West Java or Al Ihsan Hospital at the number 085722236099,” Zaenal said.
Disnakertrans officials are set to meet with officials from villages in Cianjur for help in identifying Aminah and finding her family. It’s possible that Aminah’s family hasn’t collected her yet due to legal concerns that she had sought work in Saudi Arabia illegally.
“There are many families who lost contact [with overseas workers] for one, two or three years, and not just in West Java. Those families often don’t want to come clean with village officials because they’re afraid they might discover that a member of their family left [to work overseas] via an illegal network,” a Disnakertrans official told Detik.
Indonesia introduced a moratorium on sending domestic workers to 21 Middle Eastern nations — including Saudi Arabia — in 2015 due to widespread reports of abuse, ranging from many being withheld their basic rights, such as pay, when abroad, to physical and sexual violence.
However, the ban has led to many Indonesian domestic workers being sent to the region illegally, oftentimes against their will or knowledge. Last month, police arrested eight alleged human traffickers who smuggled over 1,000 domestic workers to the Middle East and North Africa. While the workers have been repatriated, some of them reported that they worked for no pay and had been sexually abused when abroad.
