RI EMBASSY DENIES INDONESIA POSTPONES 2006 MOU REVISION TALKS

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 3 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur refuted a statement of Malaysia's human resources minister Subramaniam who had said that Indonesia had asked for a postponement of the Indonesia-Malaysia joint committee negotiations for the revision of the 2006 MoU on the protection and placement of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

"We have already written the human resources minister saying the Indonesia has postponed the Indonesia-Malaysia joint committee negoiations on revision of the 2006 MoU, and to the Malaysian media quoting the statement of the human resources minister," spokesman for the Indonesian embassy Widyarka Ryananta said in Kuala Lumpur, Monday.

"It was not true that Indonesia has postponed the negotiations. And even during the meeting between manpower minister Erman Suparno and Malaysian human resources minister Subramaniam in Putrajaya, Indonesia expressed readiness facing the Indonesia-Malaysia joint committee negotiations in mid-July 2009 in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

But Malaysia then said it was not ready and asked that the talks be held by the end of July 2009 until completed, and the decision to stop the sending of Indonesian informal migrant workers to Malaysia by Indonesia could be lifted. Since June 26, 2009 Indonesia decided to suspend the dispatch of its informal workers to Malaysia before the two sides complete the revision of the 2006 MoU.

"Unless the 2006 MoU is revised, Indonesia would never revoke the decision of suspending the dispatch of Indonesian migrant workers to Malaysia," Erman Suparno said.

Since the end of 2007, Indonesia has asked for a revision of the 2006 MoU, because some of its articles are considered to be lacking in the protection of Indonesian workers.***3***