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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2011/5/28/nation/8777678&sec=nation

1. More for maids under new deal

By AMY CHEW and LOH FOON FONG newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the recruitment of Indonesian maids will be inked in Bandung on Monday with them getting one day off a week and being allowed to keep their passport. Their salary is also learnt to be set at a minimum of RM600. Domestic helpers will get one day off a week and will get to hold their passports, Indonesian Labour and Transmigration Ministry director Rostiawati told The Star in an interview yesterday. She, however, said the minimum wage for maids, a major issue for both countries, would be left to market forces. Our embassy in Kuala Lumpur will monitor the market rate and make recommendations accordingly, she said. Suryana Sastradiredja, the Indonesian Embassy Minister-Counsellor for Information, Social and Cultural Affairs in Kuala Lumpur, said a minimum wage has not been fixed as the costs of living differed from one city to another. It is not possible to fix a minimum wage as the standard of living differs from one city to another, just like in Indonesia, he said, adding that in Indonesia, minimum wages were set to reflect the cost of living in each region. Suryana also said that if Indonesian maids were required to work daily, the employer would have to compensate her. He added that the maid's salary would also have to be banked in monthly into her account. The MoU, which comes after almost two years of negotiations, will also be a huge relief for Malaysian families desperately in need of domestic helpers. Some 35,000 Malaysian families are said to be waiting in line for Indonesian maids.

Jakarta banned sending maids to Malaysia in June 2009 following several high-profile reports of maid abuse, causing outrage in Indonesia. Suryana added that the MoU would cover the rights of both domestic helpers and employers. The general cost of hiring a helper is expected to be lower with the signing of the MoU which includes agent fees in Indonesia and cost of travel, insurance, training and lodging for training for the maud. Suryana also said that a joint task force comprising the relevant Malaysian authorities such as the Human Resources Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Indonesian Embassy would monitor the implementation of the MoU. Likewise, a similar joint task force would be set up in Indonesia comprising its relevant authorities and the Malaysian High Commission, he said. In the event the maid runs away within six months without reason, the employer will be allowed to request another helper, he added. Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam and Muhaimin will sign the MoU at 6.30pm in Gedung Sate Bandung, Indonesia. It is hoped that the lack of domestic helpers in the country can be resolved when the MoU is signed, Subramaniam said in a press statement here yesterday.

2. Friday June 3, 2011 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2011/6/3/nation/8831276&sec=nation

Monitoring MoU on maids

By ROSLINA MOHAMAD roslina@thestar.com.my

KUANTAN: Two committees will be set up in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to ensure compliance with agreed points in a memorandum of understanding on Indonesian maids, said Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan. She said each committee would comprise officials from the respective embassies, labour departments and other related agencies.

They will meet in two weeks to work on the mechanism of a joint taskforce to see that both sides honour the terms and conditions of the MoU. With an efficient and workable mechanism, it will be the right platform to iron out problems that arise, she told reporters after presenting prizes to winners of a marching competition for trainees in east coast industrial training centres in Gebeng yesterday. She said the committees would meet from time to time, depending on developments on such matters as fees, wages, maids, employers or recruitment agencies. The committees will be the channel where problems or issues can be compiled and solved amicably. Based on past experience, I am confident that weaknesses have been identified and everyone is committed to implementing the new arrangement smoothly, she added. Maznah also said there were about 200,000 maids working in the country. The new MoU lists some new conditions involving wages, fees and rest days. It also states that employers should be given a replacement maid or have the agency fees refunded if their maid ran away, found to be incompetent or did not meet health requirements.

3. Published: Saturday May 28, 2011 MYT 2:05:00 PMhttp://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2011/5/28/nation/20110528141605&sec=nation

Updated: Saturday May 28, 2011 MYT 7:29:03 PM

Govt wants employers to get free replacements should maids run away
By FARIK ZOELKIPLI

KUALA TERENGGANU: The government would like maid employment agencies to provide employers with replacement maids, at no additional cost, should their maids run away. Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan said Saturday that this would ensure that employers were protected as the maids would be entitled to hold their passports as part of the revised Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia. Human Resource Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam is currently in talks with the Indonesian government for replacement maids to be provided within a certain time, she said.

Details would be revealed on Monday, when the MoU was expected to be signed in Bandung, she said.

4. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/06/01/indonesian-maids-not-protected-by-newpact/
ETALING JAYA: Human Rights Watch (HRW) believes that Malaysia and Indonesia have missed a crucial opportunity to protect migrant domestic workers in their newly revised pact. Indonesian Labour Minister, Muhaimin Iskandar, and Malaysian Human Resources Minister, S Subramaniam, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday after two years of negotiations. In 2009 Indonesia had banned new recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers for jobs in Malaysia following a spate of high-profile abuse cases. The new agreement allows domestic workers to keep their passports and guarantees them a weekly day off. But HRW noted that it didnt include a minimum wage and retained the recruitment fee structure that keeps workers indebted. Both countries have not made the changes that would truly protect women who take on tough jobs far from home, said Nisha Varia, HRWs senior womens rights researcher. Indonesian domestic workers will still be handing over the first several months of their salaries to repay recruitment fees and labouring long hours for pitiful wages. The new pact comes ahead of negotiations among members of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva today who will vote on adopting a treaty on global standards for domestic workers. The draft ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers would require their countries of employment to provide them with employment conditions equal to that of other workers under the countrys laws. It would also require written contracts for migrant domestic workers, freedom to leave the workplace during rest periods, and guidance on issues specific to domestic work. Last year both Indonesia and Malaysia were among a minority of governments that opposed adopting the ILO Convention, although Indonesia has indicated it may support it this year. Governments around the world have been recognizing the need to end the discrimination and neglect of domestic workers, Varia stated. This is a landmark moment for protecting workers rights, and Malaysia and Indonesia should fully support strong protections at home and abroad instead of falling further behind. Varia also expressed disappointment over Malaysias failure to set a minimum wage seeing that a desperation for income deprives domestic workers of their bargaining power. Under the new pact recruitment fees are capped at RM4,511. Employers must pay the entire amount upfront but can reclaim up to RM1,800 from the domestic worker. However no more than 50% percent of the workers salary can be deducted each month.

HRW pointed out that Singapore had capped salary deductions at the equivalent of two months of wages earlier this year, lower than in the Indonesia-Malaysia agreement. These deductions will contribute to grave abuses, including forced labour, trafficking, and conditions akin to slavery, Varia said. Malaysia should have followed the lead of a number of countries in the Middle East that prohibit salary deductions altogether.

5. http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/6/nation/9430153&sec=nation Tuesday 6th of September 2011

PETALING JAYA: It was signed and sealed, but not delivered. Three months after a long-awaited memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysia and Indonesia was inked to pave the way for the re-entry of domestic workers from the republic, there has been no arrival of maids. The MoU, signed between both governments in Bandung on May 30, was designed to end a two-year moratorium on the recruitment of domestic workers from the republic. It was announced then that Indonesian domestic workers would start arriving in Malaysia within two weeks. However, the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) says the situation has remained unchanged. While the Labour Department said the ban had yet to be lifted, the Indonesian Embassy maintained that the door had been opened to its domestic workers to come here. Where are the maids? asked frustrated Papa acting president Jeffrey Foo yesterday. He said agencies in Indonesia had not co-operated as they were against the recruitment fee structure agreed by both governments. The MoU set RM4,511 as the initial fee Malaysian employers would have to fork out to the employment agencies. Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam had said the fees included RM2,711 that was to be paid by the employer and RM1,800 that must be paid in advance to the agency supplying the maids. Foo said: We know that the Malaysian Government was trying to protect employers by setting low recruitment fees. However, Indonesian agencies have not been able to supply maids for that price.

He said agencies on both sides had submitted their proposals on an acceptable fee structure before the MoU was signed, but they had not been accepted. The Star reported last week that employers were paying up to RM12,000 for maids from Cambodia and the Philippines due to the non-availability of Indonesians. Papa has estimated that about 35,000 families are in desperate need of maids. The Government must take the initiative to find out Indonesia's actual demands and review the MoU if necessary instead of leaving the issue unresolved,'' said Foo, adding that the delay had caused both the maid agencies and the employers to suffer financially. Labour Department director-general Datuk Sheikh Yahya Sheikh Mohamed said the Indonesian Government had only given a verbal agreement to lift the ban when the MoU was signed, adding that nothing had been done. Indonesian Embassy minister counsellor for information, social and cultural affairs Suryana Sastradiredja said it was not likely that Indonesian agencies were unhappy with the cost structure. The Indonesian Government had engaged with the agencies and related NGOs before the fee and other details of the MoU were finalised. It is more likely that the maids are not willing to come to Malaysia. Or the agencies may prefer to supply to other countries, he added.

6. http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/6/nation/9433767&sec=nation

Tuesday 6th September 2011

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will not bar the direct recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers by employers here. We will only stop the direct hiring when the ban (by Indonesia on the hiring of their domestic workers) is lifted, Labour Department director-general Datuk Sheikh Yahya Sheikh Mohamed told The Star yesterday. He added that Malaysia was aware that the Indonesian government was unhappy about the direct hiring, but we are left with no choice. Sheikh Yahya explained that the Government allowed direct hiring not only for Indonesian domestic workers but also those from other countries.

He said the decision on lifting the ban on sending its domestic workers to Malaysia was solely in the hands of the Indonesian government. He said Indonesia had made a verbal agreement to lift the ban when the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in May, but this had not been done. It all depends on them, he said, adding that the Malaysian Government had already done its part by fulfilling all the recommendations stated in the MoU. The ban may be lifted any time. They had said the ban would be lifted after Hari Raya. We will have to wait and see, he said. Sheikh Yahya said Malaysia recruited maids from 11 other countries besides Indonesia. We are not desperate for maids. We can always hire from other countries if they do not lift the ban, he said.

7. http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2011/9/6/nation/9433768&sec=nation Tuesday- 6th September 2011

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 2,320,034 legal and illegal workers have registered under the 6P amnesty programme which ended on Aug 31 but illegal immigrants who have yet to register can still go to immigration offices to do so. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said of those registered, 1,303,126 were illegals while the remaining 1,016,908 were legal workers. We have decided that those who did not register will be subjected to the enforcement and deportation process when the time comes, he said during a press conference yesterday. Hishammuddin said the Cabinet committee on foreign workers and illegal immigrants, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, would meet on Oct 3 to decide on the second phase of the programme. He said the ministry would also table a briefing note on the registration of the legal and illegal foreign workers to the Cabinet next week.

Hishammuddin said the biometric exercise was implemented to streamline the management of the foreign workers and wage war on international syndicates involved in human trafficking as it could affect the security of the country. He said the cooperation of 14 ministries and agencies was needed to implement the second phase.