M'SIA, INDONESIA FORM COMMITTEE TO REVIEW MoUs ON MIGRANT WORKERS

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 15 (Bernama) -- A joint committee comprising Malaysia's
Human Resource Ministry and Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Ministry
will be formed to review all the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on migrant
workers signed by both countries.

Human Resource Minister Dr S. Subramaniam said the committee, to be formed
soon, would update the MoUs' signed in the last 11 years so as to be in
tune with current developments.

"One issue is of course the fee (paid to employment agencies). According to
them, the fee stated (in the MoU), which is around RM3,000, is outdated. In
practice too, nobody's following the fee structure which we had agreed upon.

"We have to hear the proposals from the Indonesian agencies and we will
make a reasonable decision. If we need to amend certain things, we will do so on
consensus," he told reporters after Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration
Minister Dr Erman Suparno called on him at his office, here, Friday.

Dr Subramaniam said the content of the MoU would not be overhauled but only
the figures with regards to the fee and wages, for instance, would be
changed.

According to the official records, there are about 2.2 million migrant
workers in Malaysia, and out of this figure, 1.12 are Indonesians.

Dr Subramaniam said at the meeting with Dr Erman, he also explained the
issue of migrant workers' passports being kept by their employers for security
reasons.

He said his ministry was in the final stage of drawing up a guideline on
the matter, which among others, "states that if an employer wishes to keep his
worker's passport, there must be an official agreement between both parties and
the employer is responsible for renewing the work permit, visa or passport, and
will be fined if he fails to do so".

Dr Subramaniam said his Indonesian counterpart was also informed of the
amendments to the Employment Act 1955 and Workmen's Compensation Act 1952, with
provisions which included protecting the rights of migrant workers, besides
discussing with Dr Erman on strengthening cooperation to check the entry and
presence of illegals in Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA