Monday, May 28, 2007

The Hostage


Kim's death became a horrific scene that happened in front of all the Korean eyes. Korean people witnessed Kim's hostage video where Kim who did not have the power, with the head closed by orange cloth, surrendered in front of his hostage-taker asking for compassions in order not to be killed. The last request in his life had not been fulfilled.


***

THE fortune could not be gained; the unfortunate could not be refused. That is the fate that had to befall by Kim Sun-il in the hostage drama in Iraq at June 2004 that cause of his death.

Kim, the South Korean citizen that was fluently in speaking Arabian and worked as the translator in a South Korean company that supplied the US troops requirement, was found dead after approximately 3 weeks being a hostage of Iraqi militant's group. Kim Sun-il was executed because of their demand for South Korea to withdrew its 660 medical staffs and did not send its 3.000 troops to Iraq was not heeded by the South Korean government.

Kim's death became a horrific scene that happened in front of all the Korean eyes. Korean people witnessed Kim's hostage video where Kim who did not have the power, with the head closed by orange cloth, surrendered in front of his hostage-taker asking for compassions in order not to be killed. The last request in his life had not been fulfilled.

Initially, I did not follow enthusiastically this hostage story. Just after a friend from Malaysia warned me not to go out of the house if not necessary (he quoted an appeal of Bangladesh embassy in South Korea to their citizens in South Korea), I realized how important the lesson that could be taken from Kim's death is for the government and the Indonesian citizens that lived in foreign countries.

Unlike Bangladesh and Malaysian Embassy that was worried about the safety of their citizens in South Korea, Indonesian Embassy in Seoul (KBRI) seems gave a cool and calm response. I did not accept telephone and there was not any friends tell me about such an instruction from the Indonesian Embassy in South Korea to Indonesian citizens in South Korea to be careful in revealing their identity as Muslim to avoid rage of Korean citizen. Luckily, South Korean government immediately anticipated the possibility of the South Korean citizens’ anger, which was wrongly addressed by sending a group of its police to guard the mosque in Itaewon area.

The reaction of Korean society was followed by me through English newspaper; Korean Times and Korean Herald. Kim Sun-il’s tragic death brought impacts in politics, social and even psychological effects for South Korean society. Kim Sun-il’s family that is very sorrowful, besides blaming the terrorist group, also pointed Korean government that became the cause of Kim's death. The stubborn attitude of South Korean government that took the decision to keep sending 3.000 troops to Iraq this August 2004 was considered to become the trigger for their son death.

South Korean government got hard blasphemy from the society because of their failure to save Kim's life. They were disappointed by the bad diplomacy and the government negotiations’ capacity to free Kim. The government was also regarded as weak because did not have the bargaining position opposite USA so keep sending their troops with diplomacy reason to keep their good relation with Washington.

The feeling of disappointed and anger of South Korean people were highly increasing because later on they knew that the staffs of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of South Korean did not respond seriously when Associated Press reporter asked if there was a South Korean citizen named Kim Sun-il that was lost in Iraq. If only South Korean government cared in fate and safety of their citizen overseas, possibly there would be enough time and strategy to be used to rescue Kim Sun-il’s life.

The price that must be paid by South Korean government on their slow reaction to rescue his citizen that was in danger situation has reduced the level of belief drastically from South Korean society to the government. Kim Sun-il’s death opened the Korean people eyes and awareness that their government could not protect their people in overseas.


The disappointment of Korean people against the government has blown up a big protest and the multitudinous reaction. Korean Confederation of Trade Unions/ KCTU (the biggest worker organization in Korea that had 690.000 workers) planned mass demonstration demanded on cancellation of the South Korean troop’s departure to Iraq in this August. The member of the South Korean worker organization that was a pilot of Korean Airlines and Asian Airlines companies threatened to boycott the transport of South Korean troops and military supply to Iraq. The Lawyers’ Group for Democratic Society demanded the parliament to carry out an investigation to the official government that has authority to handle Kim's case. Whereas, the teachers organization has a plan to give the anti-war lesson to their students.

Besides the political and social shock above, there is also psychological shock. It was reported by Korean Herald newspaper (June 29, 2004), they are who watched the Kim's scene of hostage video get mental trauma. Yoo Sang-woo, a clinical psychologist in Seoul said that he was often visited by the patient who felt like isolated, depression and insomnia after witnessing Kim's hostage video. Yoo said that these signs were categorized as acute stress disorder. It happened because when seeing this scene, they supposed themselves as Kim Sun-il. Because of this acute stress disorder, an accountant claim that he could not concentrate on his work for days. The effect of this trauma would be lost after one month for adult and six months for children.

Kim Sun-il’s case reminded me to the mistreatment case to an Indonesian servant in Malaysia several weeks ago. The amounts of Indonesian cases of mistreatment to Indonesia migrant worker were uncounted anymore. If Indonesian worker in Malaysia was ironed and watered by hot water by his employer, in another place there were some of them who experienced mistreatment until died. And also, there was uncounted number of Indonesian workers who experienced any accident during the work and deal with bad work condition overseas.

It is hoped that Kim Sun-il’s case warned all of us that each Indonesian citizen overseas had the right to get protection and security guarantee from Indonesian government. Unfortunately, according to Wahyu Susilo from Migrant CARE, the legislative as one of the general election products, during their post period (almost five years) failed to do legislation to protect the migrant worker. The Regulation of Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection and its Family Member Draft available on the legislative since 1998 has not been processed seriously. Only became as the DPR Initiative Regulations since 2002, and did not discuss and finalized as Protection Regulations of the Indonesian Migrant Workers and their Family Members that has been waiting for by many people (KOMPAS, February 25th 2004).


Without the protection in the form of Migrant Worker Regulations, could we compare Indonesian fate of the migrant worker overseas like a hostage? They were “hostage” not by the terrorist militant group, but by the predicated work “dirty, difficult, and dangerous”. ***

Seoul, June 31, 2004

No comments: