Any labour agreement Malaysia and Indonesia finalise must afford legal and administrative protection for the estimated 300,000 Indonesian domestic helpers, said New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Citing negotiations slated today over a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on migrant domestic workers, HRW in a letter to the Malaysian and Indonesian governments said protection must be given to key human rights.

Signatories to the letter who represent 260 Asian migrant workers organisations said early indications pointed towards a document that "misses the opportunity to protect the rights of those who need it the most".

"Indonesian domestic workers often encounter abuses at every stage of the migration cycle but the draft accord maintains the status quo and contains few guarantees for their rights."

The letter was addressed to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The groups said that despite their critical role, domestic workers often encountered "grave abuses during recruitment, training, transit, employment and return".

Both governments signed an accord on labour migration on May 10, 2004, which reportedly denied basic labour protection for almost two million migrant workers in Malaysia and excluded domestic helpers.

Unprotected workers

For more than two decades, a steady inflow of migrant labour and a lack of protection have remained a thorny issue between Malaysia and Indonesia.

According to the letter, Indonesian domestic workers currently fall outside the Employment Act 1955 which affords basic protection for all others such as a weekly day off, limit on weekly working hours and annual leave.

"In addition, many experience flagrant abuses such as unpaid wages, restrictions on freedom of movement, physical abuse and abuses committed by recruitment and employment agencies."

The groups wanted more comprehensive protections in addition to those preventing employers from withholding domestic workers' salaries to pay the annual levy.

As a minimum protection, they wanted the 1955 Act and Workmen's Compensation Act 1952 to be extended equally to domestic workers, to allow them to hold their own passports and to have a standard contract based on national and international labour standards.

Minimum protection

Other minimum protection include timely remedies in abuse cases, a clear outline of sanctions for employers and agents who perpetrate the abuses, a stricter regulation of migrant recruitment and for domestic workers to be able to form associations and unions.

"This is key for raising awareness about migrant workers' rights. Forming networks not only helps to identify and respond to cases of abuse but (also) to prevent them."

The groups anticipated an increase in the thousands of complaints non-governmental organisations in both countries and the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia have been registering in recent years.

The signatories, among them Kuala Lumpur-based Tenaganita, International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development and Migrant Forum in Asia, also criticised the lack of transparency and opportunity for expert input in the drafting process.

The letter was copied to a number of ministries and rights organisations in both countries.