Make public domestic worker MOU process, Malaysian and Indonesian govts told

 

The Malaysian and Indonesian governments have been urged to be transparent in the setting up of the recruitment fees for migrant domestic workers from Indonesia.

A collective of domestic workers’ associations in Malaysia, Kearah 189, said this is essential as it can be dangerous for migrant domestic workers to work in Malaysia.

“There is a dearth of laws and policies that offer a comprehensive policy safeguarding migrant workers’ rights.

“Even the proposed amendments to the Employment Act explicitly deny the rights of domestic workers in its First Schedule,” Kearah 189 representatives Irene Xavier and Adrian Pereira said in a statement yesterday.

The Malaysian and Indonesian governments are in the midst of preparing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia, to be signed in February.

The previous MOU between Malaysia and Indonesia had expired in 2016.

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan had previously said the memorandum will include a capped fee of between RM10,000 and RM15,000 to be paid by employers.

'Provide detailed cost structure for the fees'

However, Kearah 189 asked for further clarification on this matter, saying there was no detailed cost structure for the fees.

They said the excessive fees to hire domestic workers will make them more vulnerable to exploitative practices.

“Kearah 189 is well aware of the dangers of high recruitment fees and its effects on the amount of work that will be required of a worker,” they said.

They believe there is a need for greater transparency in the current discussion for the MOU, as they said this would allow all relevant stakeholders’ views to be expressed.

“Transparency will allow the governments to hear the views of parties concerned. We believe that in this manner, the interests of the workers can be heard,” they said.

They pointed out that domestic workers do not have “neutral parties” or representative parties, such as a trade union, to speak for them.

As such, the views of business interests, such as recruitment agencies, are more heard.

Irene Xavier

Irene and Adrian also said there were 88,173 migrant domestic workers in Malaysia holding the temporary work visit pass (PLKS) as of December 2021, and the majority of them are from Indonesia.

“This is a large number of Indonesian migrant workers who will be affected by the MOU that is proposed to be soon signed,” they said.

Therefore, Kearah 189 raised four demands to be implemented immediately:

1. For Kearah 189 and other stakeholders to be included in the consultation for the process of negotiation of the MOU.

2. For the recruitment fee to be set at a reasonable figure as the current proposal of RM10,000 to RM15,000 is excessive;

3. For both governments to ensure workers pay zero fees for recruitment and placement; and

4. For migrant domestic workers to have access to raise issues of non-compliance with the MOU or the labour laws of Malaysia. This process must take into account the isolation of domestic workers and their lack of mobility to make complaints, without fear of reprisals from their employers.

To that end, Kearah 189 proposed a Domestic Workers Act and a comprehensive policy for migrant workers. - Mkini