Malaysia and Indonesia are to meet to discuss the rising number of maid abuse cases, as Jakarta contemplates temporarily cutting off its supply of domestic workers, a news report said yesterday.
Indonesian ministers, the national police chief and several other officials are due to meet in Malaysia tomorrow, the Star daily said.
“There are proposals to consider to stop sending maids to Malaysia for a few months, to review and improve the system and discuss problems faced by maids such as abuse and unpaid salary,” said Teguh Hendro Cahyono, labor officer with the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
“We understand that Malaysia is not the only country [with maid abuse cases]. There are also a lot of cases in Saudi Arabia. In Singapore, there have been instances of maids jumping off buildings,” Teguh was quoted as saying.
Aside from the abuse cases, other aspects to be considered including the maids’ low wages of 500 ringgit (US$136) in Malaysia.
In Singapore, maids are paid a minimum of 800 ringgit, while employers in Taiwan and Hong Kong pay a minimum of 1,300 ringgit for Indonesian maids, Teguh said.
Malaysia has some 320,000 foreign maids legally working in the country.
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