Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
First Secretary (Information) Eka A. Suripto explained that Indonesian maid
agencies were tied to regulations stipulated in an MoU with Malaysia.
<p>“Although the cooperation between the agencies in Malaysia and those in
Indonesia are private, they are free to settle on any amount as long as the
maximum amount is the ceiling stipulated under the MoU.</p>
<p>“If the embassy knows an Indonesian maid agency has charged higher fees
than those worked out under the MOU, our Labour Ministry will reprimand or even
revoke their operating license.</p>
<p>“Just give us the names of their companies and we will take action,”
he said in an interview here yesterday.</p>
<p>According to Eka, some Indonesian maid agencies operated under a consortium
while some worked independently but all were registered under the Labour Ministry.</p>
<p>Eka was commenting on a statement by Malaysian Association of Foreign Housemaids
Agencies vice-president Jeffrey Foo of its members fears that their counterparts
in Indonesia would not be able to supply maids at RM1,228, as fee for maids
from Indonesia was always affected by middlemen charges.</p>
<p>Both countries had recently agreed to cap the fee for Indonesian maids- RM2,415
paid by the Malaysian employer with those wanting to work here needing to cough
up RM1,228, inclusive of RM635 for the Indonesian agents.</p>
<p>Despite the ruling being put to effect immediately, many local maid agencies
had continued to charge the old fees of about RM5,000 to RM6,000 for Indonesian
maids.</p>
<p>Eka said when the authorities decided on the fee, they had already factored
in the costs of transportation of the maids from various parts of Indonesia.</p>
<p>“It may be more expensive to get a maid from Lombok than one from Medan.
But whatever it is, the transportation cost of RM500 for airfare is adequate,”
he added.
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