GOVT TO SUSPEND DESPATCH OF DOMESTIC HELPERS TO MALAYSIA

Jakarta, June 19 (ANTARA) - The government plans to temporarily stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia after an Indonesian maid was recently tortured in the neighboring country.

"We will likely stop it (dispatch of domestic helpers) temporarily. But we will first invite relevant ministers and parties to a meeting on Tuesday (June 23) to make a preliminary evaluation," Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said here on Thursday.

Among those to be invited to the meeting were the state minister for women's empowerment, the foreign minister, the law and human rights minister, the home affairs minister, the national police chief and the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia as well as Malaysian representatives, he said.

He said the decision to be taken at the meeting would have a systemic impact and his ministry could not decide any problem related to the dispatch of domestic helpers on its own.

"But I want it (the dispatch of domestic helpers) stopped until there is a response from the Malaysian government on protection of Indonesian migrant workers there," he said.

The plan to temporarily stop the dispatch of domestic helpers was the government's response to a myriad of problems being faced by Indonesian migrant workers in the neighboring country.

One of the latest of such problems arose from an incident befalling domestic helper Siti Hajar who came from Limbangan, Garut, West Java.

The 33-year-old woman had been tortured while working for an ethnic Chinese family in Lanai Kiara Condominium, Kuala Lumpur.

She was reported to have been hit with a piece of wood and scalded with hot water. Unable to bear further the cruel treatment by her employer, she, who had worked there since July 2, 2006, finally fled on Monday (June 8).

Siti hid behind a roadside tree near the condominium from 01.00 to 08.00 hours before taking a taxi to the Indonesian embassy.

Suparno had earlier said delegations from the two countries were scheduled to hold talks on July 15 to discuss various problems facing Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

At the meeting, the Indonesian delegation would propose reviewing several clauses in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the manpower field both sides signed early this year.

The clauses are among others related to protection of Indonesian migrant workers and their rights as well as improvement of their salaries.

"If no agreement on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers is reached, we will consider putting a temporary stop to the dispatch of domestic helpers," the minister said.

He said he discussed the protection of migrant workers with Malaysian Minister of Human Resources Datuk S Subramaniam early this month when they attended the 98th International Labour Conference in Geneva.