Indonesia, Malaysia MoU to be benchmark for domestic workers' protection

JAKARTA: The memorandum of understanding for the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic helpers (MoU PDI) in Malaysia will be the benchmark for MoUs with other destination countries, said Indonesia's Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah.

She said the MoU provides better and very comprehensive protection through regulations such as for salary, weekly rest day, social security and law enforcement.

Via the ministry's official Twitter account, she said the country (Indonesia) is developing bilateral cooperation with several other countries on workers' protection.

Based on Indonesia's law (Article 31 of Law number 18 of 2017), Indonesian workers can only be placed in a destination country that has regulations that protect foreign labourers.

According to Ida Fauziyah, Malaysia has fulfilled many of the criteria set by the Indonesian government in the MoU signed on April 1.

It includes the implementation of a single channel system, providing information on local rules, laws, customs and culture to the PDI; ascertaining only eligible employers hire PDIs and ensuring they comply with the law; and sharing of information on employers, PDIs and agencies for screening and blacklisting purposes.

On April 2, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said Malaysia is always committed to implementing the MoU as agreed by the two countries. However, he stressed the government could only monitor workers who came legally and that the source country must also play a role.

-- BERNAMA