KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 ― An Immigration Department rule that Muslim families may only employ maids of the same faith is not a blanket or rigid directive, Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali has clarified amid uproar over its enforcement.

The Star Online quoted the Immigration Department director-general as saying that the circular was issued by one of his predecessors as a loose guide rather than an inflexible ruling to be applied on all Muslim families.

"This is just a general guideline with many exceptions and considerations,” he reportedly said in a statement.

Mustafar stressed that he had not issued a statement on this directive, adding that the department would continue to provide assistance and facilitate both employers and employees.

The Immigration D-G assured all Muslim employers that their requests, applications or appeals would be given due consideration.

Maid agencies have criticised the directive, saying that the rule hurts the prospects of Muslims in need of domestic help.

Yesterday, The Star Online reported that all those applying for non-Muslim domestic helpers for Muslim employers had their applications rejected allegedly due to the policy that only allows Muslim maids to work for Muslim employers.

The owner of one maid agency in Selangor was told that the directive has always been in place, despite her insisting that she was never informed of the new policy.

Another maid agency owner in Kuala Lumpur said, however, that the policy was not new, but noted that previous directors-general of the department had been flexible "depending on the situation.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in June announced that the government bring in more Cambodians to work as domestic helpers, a sector that has been dominated by Indonesians previously.

Malaysia has been struggling to cope with dwindling supply to meet the increasing demands for domestic helpers, an industry that had previously been filled by Indonesian migrant workers.

However, Jakarta has since tightened its regulations on sending its citizens abroad to work as maids after widespread cases of abuse at the hands of their foreign employers.

Indonesia had temporarily banned its citizens from working as maids here, but later lifted the moratorium after negotiating new terms with Putrajaya that included higher wages and better protection.