RI, Malaysia close to deal on worker protection

Lilian Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/08/2010 9:53 AM

Malaysia and Indonesia are close to signing a comprehensive agreement on migrant workers that will better protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia from abuse by employers.

Both governments have settled all differences except for the issue of minimum salary for the more than 2 million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i Bachtiar said.

He said the Malaysian government had agreed to give Indonesian migrant workers one day off in a week, allow them to hold their passports for the duration of their contract and cover the workers’ transportation costs as well as periodic salary increases.

“We have reached a deal in all those measures, except for the minimum salary. We expect negotiations will be concluded at the end of February, and that the ban on sending workers will be revoked before March,” he said on Saturday.

Indonesia has imposed a ban on sending migrant workers to Malaysia since last June after a string of abuse cases that sparked public protests. The Indonesian government said it would not lift the ban unless Kuala Lumpur agreed to a number of measures it proposed to protect migrant workers.

Under the current deal, Malaysian employers have the right to hold employees’ passports while the workers are given identity cards issued by Malaysian authorities.

A number of Malaysian employers and the police have allegedly abused the system. Many reports have shown that without a passport, migrant workers cannot run away from employers if they were abused, while police officers forced them to pay bribes if they knew the workers didn’t have passports.

The story of Indonesian worker Siti Hajar illustrates the plight of Indonesian migrant workers.

With red blisters and scabs on her face and upper body, Siti Hajar fled her employer’s house in June.

Hajar told the media her female employer hit her and poured boiling water over her and repeatedly

beat her with a cane over a 34-month period.

Last year, in a high-profile case that began in 2004, a Malaysian court sentenced a housewife to 18 years in prison for three attacks on her Indonesian domestic worker, Nirmala Bonat, using an iron and boiling water.

Most Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia work as domestic helpers and plantation laborers. They sent home US$8.2 billion in 2008 according to the government, making remittances one of the country’s top foreign-exchange earners.

The Malaysian government said it expected Indonesia to lift the ban because it had a significant impact on labor-intensive industries.

Addressing the minimum salary, Da’i said the average salary of Indonesian migrants in Malaysia was RM 500 ($130) while Jakarta proposed it be increased by 300 ringgit.

Migrant worker issues continue to strain bilateral relations between Indonesia and Malaysia, in addition to border disputes and heritage claims.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar also called on regional administrations, the police and the immigration office to coordinate to prevent job seekers from going overseas illegally.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the ministry would continue to send home illegal migrants, not only from Malaysia but also worldwide.

Risk takers: Several illegal Indonesian workers, whose boat collided with another on Monday morning, rest at the headquarters of the Barelang Water Police, Batam. They were among 14 Indonesians who intended to go and work in Malaysia without proper documentation. JP/Fadli