TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Seven Indonesian workers are still in Aleppo, Syria. They are still fighting for their rights against their employers. Indonesian Ambassador to Syria Djoko Harjanto has met them on June 1, 2016. “I’m your father. Your safety is my responsibility,” Djoko told the migrant workers in the Consular Branch Office in Fransiskan Aleppo.
Djoko said that the Consular Branch Office and Aleppo shelter are the representatives of Indonesian Embassy in Damaskus to protect all Indonesians amid raging conflict in Syria. Djoko expressed that Indonesia has stopped sending migrant workers to all regions in the Middle East and workers have been barred from returning to Syria having been repatriated by the Indonesian Embassy in Damascus.
Before the crisis, Aleppo was the second largest city in Syria, after the Syrian capital Damascus that houses many consulates of various countries. Indonesia is now the only state to keep its consular branch office in Aleppo.
The Indonesian migrant workers under siege in Aleppo, troubled employers and the inability of the Protection Task Force, Indonesian Embassy in Damascus, to reach Aleppo are the reasons behind Indonesia’s decision to keep its consuler office.
DESTRIANITA
