Etty Binti Toyib Anwar
Etty Binti Toyib, an Indonesian woman, was sentenced to death in 2001 at the
age of 32 after being accused of poisoning her employer. The family of the deceased
demanded $1.3m US dollars. Concerned individuals and organisations managed to
raise $1m for Etty over the years, which was accepted by the family, allowing her to be
released aged 51, after 19 years in prison. The nature of the diya system, in which a
murder victim’s family may accept blood money on behalf of the accused in exchange
for full or partial clemency, further disadvantages foreign nationals who do not have the
social networks or means to meet the family’s demands. The victim’s family can choose
what level of blood money they would accept, and this usually amounts to sums well
outside the means of a migrant worker.
The nature of the diya system, in which a murder
victim’s family may accept blood money on
behalf of the accused in exchange for full or
partial clemency, further disadvantages foreign
nationals who do not have the social networks or
means to meet the family’s demands. The
victim’s family can choose what level of blood
money they would accept, and this usually
amounts to sums well outside the means of a
migrant worker. Sending countries have made
attempts to safeguard the rights of their
nationals and in 2011 Indonesia signed a
moratorium to stop sending domestic workers to
Many foreign nationals in Saudi Arabia are there to
the Gulf state after another Indonesian maid was
work on construction projects. Saudi Arabia relies
executed. However thousands still travel there
heavily on foreign labour, mainly from South and
each year as they know their families rely on the
remittances sent back home.
Southeast Asia for its vast building projects and to
provide domestic help for Saudi households.
Acknowledgements
With special thanks to the following organisations and individuals who lent their considerable assistance and expertise
towards this research in Saudi Arabia: ESOHR, Eleos Justice, Harm Reduction International, Justice Project Pakistan,
Reprieve MENA, P39A, among others.
Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford
For more research see:
foreign-nationals.uwazi.io or tinyurl.com/mappingdeathrow