Malaysia Approves Draft Workers Protection MOU

KOMPAS/MOHAMAD FINAL DAENG

Indonesian Migrant Workers (TKI) who work in Malaysia gather before entering the Indonesian Air Force's Hercules plane that picked them up at the Subang Air Base, Malaysia, to be sent home, Tuesday (12/23/2014).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have moved closer to signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on protecting prospective Indonesian migrant workers after Malaysia approved the draft MOU submitted by Indonesia.

After receiving Malaysian Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan at her office in Jakarta on Monday (24/1/2022), Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah stated that Malaysia had agreed with the draft MOU containing provisions on the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers.

“The Malaysian government has approved the entirety of the draft MOU on the recruitment of domestic workers from Indonesia," said Ida, adding that the two governments simply needed to finalize the document.

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Saravanan confirmed that the draft MOU had been approved and expressed his hope that it would be signed soon. The previous MOU expired in 2016.

"This MOU will protect and reduce the risks for Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, and includes enforcing the law against employers or agents who violate employment agreements and labor regulations," Ida said.

The manpower minister was accompanied by Anwar Sanusi, the manpower ministry’s secretary-general and Suhartono, the director general of employee recruitment development and job expansion.

Illegal workers

Benny Ramdhani, the head of the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI), expressed his hope that the Malaysian government would be committed to protecting Indonesian domestic workers. "It must be mutual. We do need jobs in Malaysia, but they also need our workers," he said.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Batam City Class I Port Health Office officers distribute health alert cards to a number of Indonesian migrant workers at Batam Center Port, Batam City, Riau Islands, Tuesday (24/3/2020).

Regarding the safety of migrant workers, the heads of regions that have traditionally supplied migrant workers would be meeting to discuss the matter.

Sutan Riska Tuanku Kerajaan, who chairs the Indonesian Regency Governments Association, said that the regents' meeting would be held on Tuesday (25/1).

The meeting would also raise the recent marine accident, in which five boats carrying migrant workers sank in the Malacca Strait.

"Tomorrow, after the meeting, I will inform you," said Sutan, who is also the regent of Dharmasraya in West Sumatra. The meeting would also raise the recent marine accident, in which five boats carrying migrant workers sank in the Malacca Strait. In the last two months, 37 migrant workers from several regions have been reportedly killed.

Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo urged the government to be more serious about dealing with the rampant smuggling of migrant workers on the eastern coast of Sumatra, which he partly blamed on the ineffectual identification of the local roots of the problem.

Christina Aryani, a member of House of Representatives Commission I from the Golkar Party faction, deplored the prolonged quandary over the protection of Indonesian migrant workers and called for the issue to be handled seriously. (AGE/NDU/JOL/PDS)

(This article was translated by Musthofid)