INDONESIA BANS PROSPECTIVE MAIDS FROM LEAVING FOR MALAYSIA, KUWAIT AND JORDAN

BY AHMAD FUAD YAHYA

JAKARTA, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Indonesia's Labour and Transmigration Minister
Muhaimin Iskandar Tuesday announced that prospective maids from the country
would be banned from leaving for Malaysia until the Indonesian goverment could
assure their safety.

He said the move was being taken in response to the case where an Indonesian
maid was allegedly abused by her employer in Penang on Sept 13.

He said action had to be taken to protect maids who went overseas to work
despite not having valid documents to do so because they risked being abused.

"As such, do not leave for Malaysia until your (maids) safety is assured," he
was quoted as saying in Denpasar, Bali by the Kompas.Com. news portal.

Besides Malaysia, the ban also applies to prospective maids heading for Kuwait
and Jordan.

Muhaimin had also said that, for the maids' safety, the Indonesian
government wanted them to be holding their own passports and be registered with the
nearest Indonesian embassy or consulate office.

He also asked maid agencies in the republic to do their part to ensure maids
sent by them to work overseas were adequately protected.

Indonesian maid Winfaedah, 26, who hails from lampung, was reported to have been
physically and sexually abused by her employer and his wife for months before
being dumped by the roadside in Nibong Tebal, about 40km away from her
employer's home on Penang island, on Sept 13.

A local resident had helped her to lodge a police report at the Nibong Tebal
police station before she was admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment of
wounds inflicted on her.

The Indonesian government had expressed its appreciation to Malaysian police for
their quick in action in arresting the suspects involved.
-- BERNAMA