Indonesia lifts ban on sending maids to Malaysia

They will now get a minimum wage of RM700 a month and a weekly off day and employers will have to pay maids by bank transfer.

JAKARTA: Indonesia has lifted a ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia after both countries agreed on a minimum salary increase and measures to end abuse and torture, an official said Friday.

Jakarta implemented the ban in June 2009 after a spate of workers reported shocking abuse cases at the hands of their Malaysian employers.

“We revoked it Thursday after both countries agreed on a number of deals aimed at improving protection for Indonesian workers,” labour ministry director-general for Indonesian workers abroad Reyna Usman told AFP.

Most of Malaysia’s foreign maids are Indonesian women, who often work for as little as RM400 a month and have no specific laws governing their work conditions.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in May to improve conditions for Indonesian maids, but Jakarta said it would only officially revoke the ban after a minimum-wage increase was negotiated.

“There will be a significant salary increase for the domestic workers. They will now get a minimum wage of RM700 a month,” Usman said, adding that employers will have to pay maids by bank transfer.

“There have been many cases where Malaysian employers simply did not pay their maid’s salary. By using a bank transfer, it will be easier to track payments,” she said.

Indonesia will send its first group of workers to Malaysia in early March.

Employers will not be allowed to confiscate maids’ passports and workers have an explicit right to communicate with relatives and Indonesian authorities.

Workers are now entitled to one day a week off or receive cash compensation of RM28.

Hau Yuan Tyng, a 45-year-old Malaysian woman, is serving 11 years in jail for inflicting horrific wounds on her Indonesian maid, Siti Hajar, using a hammer, scissors and scalding water.

Siti, 35, escaped from her employer’s upmarket apartment last year and made her way to the Indonesian embassy. Pictures of her injuries were splashed across newspapers in both countries.

Indonesia has also banned sending maids to Saudi Arabia following the beheading of a maid, Ruyati binti Sapubi, in June.

Sapubi, 54, was convicted of killing her Saudi employer, who she said had abused her.

- AFP