Indonesian maids to arrive from mid-January

This is good news for households who need a maid. The long-awaited domestic help is imminent as some 50,000 Indonesian maids are due to arrive in Malaysia from mid-January after the lifting of the moratorium on their employment on Dec 1.

According to Labour director-general Datuk Sheikh Yahya Sheikh Mohamed, the delay was due to the compulsory 200-hour training (about a month) they had to undergo before they can work in Malaysia.

The one-off agency fee to recruit an Indonesian maid is now set at RM4,511, of which RM2,711 has to be paid by the employer and the remaining RM1,800 by the maid. The recruitment fee was not fixed before, and could be as high as RM8,000.

The stipulation is that only private recruitment agencies that are registered with the Immigration Department and Labour Department and which had agreed to abide by these conditions are allowed to recruit maids from Indonesia.

The authorities would act against recruitment agencies or employers breaking the rules. Recruitment agencies will have their licences suspended after the first offence, and revoked upon the second.

Employers who use their maids for purposes other than domestic work may be charged under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years and a maximum fine of RM1mil.


Source: The Star..50,000 Indonesian maids to arrive from mid-January