Only paid agencies will be able to send maids to Malaysia: Minister

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 07/07/2009

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno told his Malaysian counterpart that only those maid agencies that have already received payments from Malaysian employers will be allowed to bring in maids to work with the respective employers.
 
The minister was in Putrajaya, Malaysia, to have a meeting with Malaysian Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam at the ministerial office on Monday. Two weeks ago the Indonesian government announced that it would no longer send maids to Malaysia, following reports of abuse by Malaysian employers.
 
Erman, when met by reporters after the meeting, said the two countries would review the memorandum of understanding on labor which was signed in May 2006.
 
"We need to review it because both countries had since passed several legislations which are not parallel to it. On the Indonesian side we have a new human trafficking law which came into force in 2007," he said, as quoted by Malaysian news agency Bernama.
 
He said the review would be discussed at the Malaysia-Indonesia joint committee meeting on July 15.
 
Erman said the meeting Monday also centered on the commitment of both countries to put in place measures to protect the interest of Indonesian workers in Malaysia. Indonesia, he said, was very concerned about the abuse of Indonesian maids at the hands of their Malaysian employers.
 
"They must be treated rightly... their rights as workers should be protected. They need to be given a day off every week while the health and security provision of these workers must also be adequate," he said.
 
He also said that the Indonesian government also wanted to stem the influx of illegal Indonesian labor into Malaysia and ensure legal workers were employed by legitimate Malaysian firms.
 
"We have also proposed that a joint committee be specifically set-up to see to the protection and treatment of Indonesia workers here. This committee would have representatives of both sides including the police of the two countries," Erman said.
 
He said the joint committee meeting would thrash out all the issues and "hopefully a new system would put an end to all the problems we currently have.