Wanita UMNO wants government to reduce cost of getting foreign maids to RM5,000

In voicing this, its chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the cost was currently very high and burdensome.

She said the higher recruitment cost paid to the agencies would mean that the employer would lose much more should the housemaid run away shortly after recruitment.

"This matter could be considered a national economic issue because when the maid runs away, mothers will have to leave their jobs to look after the children. This will cost the country a loss of talented, female workforce," she said to reporters here Tuesday.

She said foreign maid agencies must take responsibility for workers who run away or are problematic during the two-year contract and replace with new maids, without charging cost or fees to the employer.

From 2008 to 2013, there were 105,119 reported cases of maids running away, causing a loss of RM1 billion which was borne by the employers," she said.

Wanita Umno also suggested that the government should set up a one-stop centre which would record the data of the maid, act as a complaints centre for employers who faced problems relating to maids and provide social assistance like legal, financial and medical services to maids and employers.