House of hope for children of Indonesian migrant workers
By Budhi S, Rio Rizalino, Azis Shafrudin (Asia Calling)

(Translation)

Here, babies born to Indonesian women migrant workers who are unmarried or victims of rape are cared for. This children's care home is a house of hope for these innocent children.

This 11-month old baby has been blind from birth. Kholid is also physically disabled. His mother, a migrant worker from Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia, was raped by her employer in Saudi Arabia. His mother is now back working as a migrant worker.

Carer at the home, Nina, explains that while she was pregnant, Kholid's mother took powerful drugs in an attempt to abort the baby.

There are at least eight other children in the care home. All of them have Middle Eastern features. They are between 3 and 18 months old.

Aiman, an 18-month toddler, asks everyone who comes to visit to pick him up, as if he were hungry for affection.

The care home is located in a housing complex behind Soekarna Hatta Airport. Since opening in 2009, the home has cared for 24 babies.

Some have been taken in by family members. The care home managers try to ensure that the babies eventually return to their mothers or to a relative. Adoption is the last option.

The number of children born to migrant workers raped in Saudi Arabia is likely to grow. Wahyu Susilo, Migrant Care policy analyst explains that women migrant workers are in a very weak position because in Saudi Arabia rape considered to be adultery, and most often it is the woman who is punished.

Migrant Care is urging the government of Indonesia and other countries that send workers to Saudi Arabia to provide protection for the workers. Otherwise, the number of innocent children born to women migrant workers raped in Saudi Arabia will continue to grow, and the care home will have to carry on taking care of them.