KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Come March, about 300 Cambodian domestic workers will arrive and one of the prerequisites to secure their employment will be they be given cellphones.

And their employment would be facilitated by the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (PAPA).

The return of Cambodian domestic workers to Malaysia after a six-year break is deemed a positive development to overcome the maid shortage and excessive fees imposed by agencies.

This was made possible with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MOLVT) and PAPA yesterday.

PAPA president Jeffrey Foo said the MoA seeks to ensure protection and security of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia.

"This marks a milestone for the industry. This time PAPA is taking it up a notch and doing more than what we conventionally do to ensure Malaysian employers image are not tarnished and described as ‘horrible’.

"What we signed today enables PAPA to manage the well-being of Cambodian workers and oversee the entire process — from the time they are selected, trained and offered jobs in Malaysian homes,” he told a press conference after the MoA signing at Cititel Mid Valley yesterday.

Foo said among others, the MoA demands employers to sign a pre-hiring agreement which specifies the size of household and the types of chores the prospective maids would have to do.

"We want to be strict this time. When we do this, the maids will know beforehand what kind of tasks await them and they are not exploited to work in other sectors.

"The employers will then be liable and can be brought to book should the Cambodian worker be exploited or abused,” he said.

The MoA also dictates that a Cambodian maid be protected with insurance, given a mobile phone and have a bank account opened in her name.

In October 2011, the Cambodian government imposed a moratorium on its citizens working as domestic helpers in Malaysia due to reports of abuse by employers.

MOLVT director-general Seng Sakda guaranteed that prospective Muslim employers would not have a problem with helpers from Cambodia and that religion would not be an issue.

"In Cambodia, we have Buddhists and Muslims too. We will supply them according to demand,” he told the press conference.

He added Cambodia had not set any limit to the number of workers to come to Malaysia, provided every party abided by the MoA.

Foo envisions 50,000 Cambodian domestic helpers coming to Malaysia annually should everything go according to plan.