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Fewer Indonesian maids to work in Malaysia
| Published: | 16 Feb at 2 PM |
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Tagged: USA, Travel Abroad
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said he wants to cut the number of domestic workers travelling overseas and instead provide employment for them at home.
President Widodo has told the Manpower Ministry to look into the current situation regarding domestic helpers and come up with ways of providing job opportunities for them in Indonesia rather than sending them abroad to work. However, such a move could develop into a problem for Malaysia, where 60 per cent of domestic workers are from Indonesia.
Nevertheless, the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (PAPA) President Jeffrey Foo said if this was to happen, Malaysia would accept it. He revealed that they were currently looking into the shortfall of domestic workers in the country by checking availability in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Widodo visited Malaysia earlier this month and spoke to thousands of expatriate Indonesians. Many of the ones he met personally informed him of their sorrow at having to find employment abroad. Since then, the president has been working on finding a way to ensure these domestic workers can work in their homeland rather than having to do so overseas.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno explained that many maids in the country did not have the correct documents so have no real salary. He added that some of them viewed their situation as so bad they decided to run away, something that made the president sad to hear.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said just 4,000 Indonesian domestic workers came into the country via the correct channels, while as many as 100,000 were working there illegally.
President Widodo has told the Manpower Ministry to look into the current situation regarding domestic helpers and come up with ways of providing job opportunities for them in Indonesia rather than sending them abroad to work. However, such a move could develop into a problem for Malaysia, where 60 per cent of domestic workers are from Indonesia.
Nevertheless, the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (PAPA) President Jeffrey Foo said if this was to happen, Malaysia would accept it. He revealed that they were currently looking into the shortfall of domestic workers in the country by checking availability in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Widodo visited Malaysia earlier this month and spoke to thousands of expatriate Indonesians. Many of the ones he met personally informed him of their sorrow at having to find employment abroad. Since then, the president has been working on finding a way to ensure these domestic workers can work in their homeland rather than having to do so overseas.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno explained that many maids in the country did not have the correct documents so have no real salary. He added that some of them viewed their situation as so bad they decided to run away, something that made the president sad to hear.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said just 4,000 Indonesian domestic workers came into the country via the correct channels, while as many as 100,000 were working there illegally.
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