PUTRAJAYA, Feb 6 ― There will only be one channel to bring in Indonesian domestic workers, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today in a bid to control the widespread illegal import of the migrant workers.
The Malaysian prime minister said the plan was agreed to during a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo earlier today, especially since the current official system is not operating up to expectations.
“We see that the official channel is not used as we had hoped. At this point of time, only over 4,000 maids come in through the official channel while 105,000 enter via unofficial channels,” he said at a joint-news conference with Widodo here.
“So we are looking at creating only one channel if possible, because when we take care of the interests of the maids and make sure they receive sufficient training, and at the same time give them protection when they are working in Malaysia,” he added.
In December 2013, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to have their foreign worker recruitment agencies to enter a formal cooperation to better manage the supply of Indonesian maids to Malaysia.
The decision was an extension of the Bali agreement signed between the two countries in 2011 on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian maids in Malaysia.
Prior to the Bali deal, Indonesia had suspended sending its citizens as domestic workers in Malaysia following numerous reports and cases of alleged abuse by Malaysian employers.
Today, Najib said Malaysia is also working on establishing more Indonesian schools for children of Indonesian workers in the country.
He said there are already 50 Indonesian schools operating in Sabah and that the Sarawak state government has agreed to set up similar schools.
“As established by UNESCO, the right to education is a universal right that we cannot deny,” Najib said.
