Respect our law, Jakarta tells KL

The Sun
by Alyaa Alhadjri

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 7, 2011): The practice of allowing Malaysian employers to directly recruit Indonesian domestic maids, a practice prohibited by Jakarta, has irked its embassy. It wants the Malaysian government to respect Indonesian law.

The embassy’s minister counsellor for information, social and cultural affairs Suryana Sastradiredja said yesterday it was wrong for the Malaysian governmennt to allow direct recruitment of Indonesian domestic helpers “as it contempt of Indonesian law”.

“Malaysia should not attempt to create problems with Indonesia which has always been a good neighbour, and the two countries have a long history of strong bilateral ties,” he told theSun.

His comment comes in the wake of Labour Department director-general Datuk Sheikh Yahya Sheikh Mohamed’s statement on Monday that the practice of direct recruitment is not barred by Malaysia.

Sheikh Yahaya was quoted as saying that the government will not stop Malaysians from directly recruiting maids from Indonesia as there was a high demand for maids following the two-year ban on maids coming

to Malaysia via employment agencies.

“We will only stop the direct hiring when the ban by Indonesia on the hiring of their domestic workers is lifted,” he said. However, he added that Malaysia was “not desperate” as maids were also being recruited from 11 other countries.

Suryana said as the Malaysian government was aware of Indonesian law No. 39/2004 on placement and protection of its workforce overseas, it should immediately stop issuing permits to Indonesian domestic helpers who initially came in under social visit passes.

“If you (Malaysia) say you are not desperate, please stop issuing the work permits. You have to respect the laws of another country,” he said.

Suryana said recruitment and placement agencies play an important role to protect the rights of Indonesian domestic helpers working overseas.

“If the maids run into any problems with their employers, the agents can be held accountable to offer assistance. On other hand, maids who are directly recruited may be exposed to the threats of human trafficking and our government has no way of tracking them down,” he said.

Suryana also took a swipe at Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) acting president Jeffrey Foo who on Monday urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to intervene in the execution of terms set out under a revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Indonesian maid employment.

It has been more than three months since the MoU was signed in Bandung, but to date, Indonesian agencies have yet to start sending in the maids.

Foo claimed it was due to Indonesia’s unhappiness with the RM1,800 agency fee stipulated in the MoU, as it was “too low” to cover their agencies’ costs for providing training, travel and accommodation for the maids.

“The Indonesian government engaged the agencies and related NGOs before the fees and other details of the MoU were finalised with Malaysia,” stressed Suryana.

However, as Indonesia is also supplying maids to other countries which pay more and since the cost structure is determined by market forces, the agencies’ decision to send their maids, or the maids’ decision to work in countries other than Malaysia, is something that cannot be forced on them, he said.