KUALA LUMPUR, 6 Aug 2009: The Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) today called on the Home and Human Resources ministries to take follow-up action to speed up the negotiations between Malaysia and Indonesia on maids.
Its president, Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, said this was because two meetings between the two countries to discuss the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on maids, which were supposed to be held last month, did not materialise.
“Any delay or failure to hold the meeting between the two parties will have a negative impact, not only to the local recruitment agencies, but also the maid agencies in Indonesia.
“Papa is confident the the temporary freeze on the export of maids to Malaysia, if prolonged, will not benefit any of the parties concerned in the two countries. Instead, other parties may take advantage of the situation,” he said in a statement here.
He said there was also a possibility that the maids would be brought into the country illegally by irresponsible parties.
Raja Zulkepley said the move by the Indonesian government to resume the export of maids to Malaysia in the near future should be considered pending the review of the MoU.
He said both countries had initially agreed on several issues, including the condition for the maids to be given a weekly day off and insurance coverage.
If the cost structure and the minimum salary for the maids were to hamper the bilateral discussion, the matter should be resolved based on the interests of all the relevant parties.
“We are convinced that there are many more Indonesian maids who are still interested in working here,” he added. — Bernama
