The Indonesian and Malaysian governments have been asked to expedite a domestic workers bill and work on a bilateral memorandum of understanding to avoid further incidences of violence on domestic help in Malaysia.

                    

Migrant Care said that the recent horrific abuse of a 26-year-old domestic worker from East Java signals that both governments need to “act urgently”.  

indonesian maid domestic workers “It is timely that the Malaysian and Indonesian governments table the domestic workers bills in their respective parliaments, while endorsing the ILO convention on domestic workers passed in the International Labor conference in Geneva in August 2010,” said Alex Ong, the Malaysia representative for the Jakarta-based organisation, in a statement today.

Ong says the way forward is for both countries to stop blaming each other and recognise it as a joint problem.

“Both governments must view the current domestic workers’ ordeals as their mutual problems rather than pointing at the mistakes of each other.

He says that the most recent case of abuse proves that the migrant workers’ moratorium was not being observed, and that human trafficking activities in Malaysia has escalated.

He points to “more than 5,000 trafficked domestic workers who are still waiting for Malaysian immigration authorities to approve their work permits, despite the moratorium called by the Indonesian government”.

‘Joint commitment needed’

Ong says the recent souring of diplomatic ties between the two countries will further contribute to confrontation between people of the two countries at grassroots level.

He lamented that politicians from both sides continued to bicker in the media while incidences of abuse continue.

Migrant Care is making several recommendations, amongst which is for both countries to expedite legal proceedings against perpetrators of violence against domestic workers, claiming several cases are “not progressing at all”.

Ong also wants the Indonesian government to act urgently against manpower agencies that promote human trafficking for “windfall profits” in collaboration with Malaysian partners.

The partners, he says, should be prosecuted under anti-human trafficking laws.