The migrant domestic worker recruitment tool on the Immigration Department’s website may be the chosen system to link up with Indonesia, but it must comply with terms in the bilateral agreement between the two countries, says Jakarta’s top envoy to Malaysia Hermono.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud reportedly said the two countries had agreed in principle to link up the Maid Online System (MOS) with Indonesia’s system to complete the One Channel System, which was to be the sole digital platform for the employment of Indonesian domestic workers.
Despite having inked the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Employment and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Workers in Malaysia on April 1, the latter had not yet nominated a portal that would be linked to the former’s recruitment system.
Confirming his informal meeting with Khairul Dzaimee and senior representatives from the Ministry of Human Resources on Monday (July 18), the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia said the details of the process had not been ironed out yet.
“It was an informal agreement as it is up to Malaysia to propose a portal, and both ministries have now decided to use the MOS.
“However, Khairul Dzaimee’s statement was incomplete as it did not explain that the system would comply with the terms in the MOU.
“Whatever portal Malaysia chooses to use, its implementation must comply with the provisions stipulated in the MOU, and this includes the agreed recruitment process flow in Appendix A,” Hermono said in response to Khairul Dzaimee’s statement in Free Malaysia Today.
Malaysia did not honour the MOU
Hermono added that he had also received a positive and constructive communication from Minister of Human Resources M Saravanan on Tuesday, July 20 and was optimistic the two countries could finalise the matter soon.
“It’s up to Malaysia how quickly they want to resolve this matter and commence the recruitment flow as Indonesia’s portal is ready to go,” he said.
On July 13, Indonesia imposed a temporary freeze on all workers entering Malaysia following its finding that the highly contentious MOS operated by the Immigration Department was still being used in the recruitment of domestic workers from Indonesia.
This was in direct breach of terms in the MOU, and Hermono explained that Appendix H of the agreement mentioned the use of MOS, Journey Perform Visa and MyTravelPass, or any other placement mechanism were strictly not to be used in the recruitment process of Indonesian domestic workers.
“The main reason we imposed the labour freeze was that Malaysia did not honour and implement the MOU.
“The current maid online system allows for tourist visas to be converted to work permits without applications being vetted for approval by the embassy.
“These are terms put in place in the MOU for the protection of the worker from abuse and the employers from being cheated,” he stressed.
When asked what would the country’s reaction be if the MOS was found to be still in use before the link-up was finalised, Hermono said it would only perpetuate the labour freeze to other sectors.
No changes to recruitment process flow
Meanwhile, to Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin’s recent allusions that there were mistakes in the MOU, Hermono contended that mistakes should have been raised before the agreement was signed.
“The Malaysian government signed the MOU in a ceremony witnessed by both country leaders, but before the agreement can be fully implemented, there are claims of mistakes.
“If Malaysia proposes to change the recruitment flow chart, it should be raised at the MOU joint working group scheduled to meet in August.
“But we will not change the recruitment process flow that we have agreed was designed to protect our workers,” he explained.
However, while waiting for the current discussion to conclude, the freeze on labour in Malaysia would remain, Hermono explained, adding that even if it took a year for talks to conclude. - Mkini
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