Why Indonesia Suspends Sending Migrant Workers to Malaysia
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20 July 2022 09:05 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government has decided to temporarily suspend sending migrant workers (PMI) to Malaysia since July 13, which is mainly driven by possible violations of the two country’s bilateral partnership on workers. This has effectively stalled thousands of workers to be sent to Malaysia.
The suspected violation the government mentioned is related to Law No.18/2017 overseeing the protection of Indonesian migrant workers over Malaysia’s maid online system, which champions direct hiring, which is implemented there.
The direct hiring process effectively negates the role of the agency intermediary and is believed to reduce the possibility for workers to quickly obtain work. The online direct hiring also exposes Indonesian PMIs to possible exploitation, the government argued.
This is based on the findings of the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, that there is advertising activity for domestic workers from Indonesia on social media. Even though such a mechanism was never agreed upon through the MoU on the Placement & Protection of migrant workers in Malaysia.
The Indonesian and Malaysian governments signed an MoU related to the Placement and Protection of PMIs in the domestic sector in Malaysia as recently as April 1 The signing was also witnessed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato 'Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
With the findings of the online hiring circulating, it is believed to be very detrimental to the good faith of the two countries that have been established previously and it does not help that the current maid online hiring is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs of Malaysia itself through the Malaysian Immigration Department. The one-channel system should be the only official mechanism for the recruitment and placement of PMIs in the domestic sector in Malaysia, Indonesia argues.
Indonesian Minister of Manpower, Ida Fauziyah wrote on her social media platform that currently the PMI placement system for the domestic sector in Malaysia is still not in accordance with the agreed terms of the MoU but sheds light on her positivity towards future solutions.
"However, we are optimistic that this matter can be resolved soon so that the agreement as stated in the MoU can be implemented properly," she wrote.
DANAR TRIVASYA FIKRI
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