| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is optimistic that Indonesia will soon lift the ban on its domestic workers to Malaysia.
In June 2008, Jakarta stopped its domestic workers from working in Malaysia after several cases of mistreatment by their employers.
Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein visited the temporary shelter for domestic workers, located within the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking after meeting the residents, Mr Hishammuddin gave the assurance that their grievances would be addressed swiftly and fairly.
"We don't want to see anybody in Malaysian soil to be taken advantage of or hurt. This is where I want to give assurance to the ambassador and the people of Indonesia. These are small incidents, which will be tackled head on," said Mr Hishammuddin.
A joint task force has been set up to expedite investigations into cases of abuse.
Although the temporary shelter can only house up to 75 people, there are more than 150 Indonesian maids seeking shelter at the Indonesian embassy. Most of them ran away from their employers because of mistreatment, such as unpaid salary and physical abuse.
25-year-old Josephine Padir, a domestic worker, said that she was raped by the brother-in-law of her employer. She said she was raped twice - in a car and in the house while she was sleeping.
Meanwhile, two other domestic workers, Manira and Rahayu, claimed that they were never paid after working for several years.
There are close to 250,000 Indonesians working as domestic workers in Malaysia.
Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are discussing how to improve their working conditions, such as giving them one-day off a week and a minimum monthly wage.
- CNA/sc
|
