Representatives from the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR) will meet the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia today to discuss solutions to an administrative dispute between the two countries, said its minister M Saravanan.
Confident the matter can be resolved over the next two days, Saravanan said the solutions to be proposed to Indonesia would be a “win-win situation for both sides”.
The minister told Malaysiakini this after a joint press conference with Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin at the Bukit Aman police headquarters this afternoon.
When reached, Indonesian Ambassador Hermono said he would wait to hear from the ministry’s officers.
At the press conference, Hamzah attributed the imposition of a labour freeze to a “misunderstanding” and a “communication breakdown” between the two countries.
Last week, Indonesia imposed a temporary freeze on all workers entering Malaysia following its finding of the highly contentious Maid Online System (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 memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic workers signed on April 1.
In announcing the labour freeze on July 13, Hermono said a letter was sent to Saravanan asking for clarification on the matter and an assurance that only the One Channel System would be applied.
Ironing out issues
When asked to elaborate, Hamzah said there were some issues that needed to be addressed and alluded to possible changes to the MOU terms which will be discussed during joint talks.
When pressed on the necessity for the MOS in the recruitment of domestic workers from Indonesia, Hamzah qualified that recruitment agents may find the system unnecessary and asked if Malaysian employers felt the same way.
“Do they want to follow the agent or otherwise?
“We should not listen to one side but need to hear them all,” he said.
The two countries have been negotiating the terms of the MOU since 2016 after its five-year duration lapsed.
When pressed further on the MOU, Hamzah said: “The MOU provided that it was inappropriate to raise mistakes in the MOU with the media”.
Hope for quick resolution
Indonesia’s allegations of the breach came just three months after it was signed and Hermono had previously explained that the MOS bypassed the One Channel System that was agreed upon in the MOU.
Hamzah was speaking to the media following a joint-committee meeting on migrant worker management he co-chaired with Saravanan, and expressed hope the matter could be resolved as soon as possible.
The home minister also stressed that as individuals who represented the government (himself and Saravanan), the management of migrant workers would be carried out in accordance with the law.
He further assured that all migrant workers in the country would receive equal protection under the law. - Mkini
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