The memorandum of understanding on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia was the result of negotiations between the two countries spanning six years, said Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi.
The MoU was officially signed by Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah and Malaysian Human Resources Minister Saravanan Murugan and witnessed by President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Merdeka Palace.
“Why is this MoU so important? This MoU has been negotiated for six years, and with this MoU, we expect that the protection of Indonesian migrant workers working in the domestic sector in Malaysia can be (optimizsed),” Minister Retno Marsudi noted in an interview.
How this is different is that now the implementation of a one-channel system for the entire process of placing, monitoring, and sending back Malaysia’s domestic sector migrant workers will have better oversight.
“Hence, we also expect that the bad cases that plague Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia can be drastically reduced,” Minister Retno Marsudi stated.
The foreign affairs minister emphasized that the MoU carries the best interests of both countries, considering the fact that Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia had contributed greatly to the economy of Malaysia.
Based on reports from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, in 2021, some 206 complaints were received about unpaid salaries for migrant workers in Malaysia. Meanwhile, in the first two months, the Indonesian Embassy had received reports of 16 cases of those who had yet to receive their salaries in Malaysia.
At a press conference with President Jokowi following the meeting, the Malaysian prime minister stated that his country had also ratified the ILO Protocol 29 as a commitment to eradicating forced labor practices.
