It's official: Malaysia is the worst country in Asia...

...when it comes to treatment of Indonesian maids, that is. And that official statement was issued by an Indonesian embassy official--whose name, understandably, was not mentioned. But what I'm curious is how such a statement will affect the relationship of the two countries.

Anyway considering the statistic that maids from Indonesia make up 90% of the estimated 300,000 maids in Malaysia, I guess Malaysia government might do well to just ignore the provoking declaration that Malaysia is the worst country in Asia (with regards to the ill-treatment & abuse of the Indonesian maids).

When it comes to treatment of Indonesian maids, Malaysia is the worst country in Asia, said an Indonesian embassy official.

The Malay Mail reported on Friday that every year, more than 1,000 maids, mainly Indonesians, escape from their cruel employers.

The paper spoke to migrant worker advocates who revealed more horror stories of 'slave maids' last week.

Some, including illegal domestic helpers and victims of human trafficking, remain runaways for fear of deportation.

Others seek protection from their respective embassies, in some cases, along with newborn babies - often the result of sexual assault.

There were no children or babies when the Malay Mail visited the shelter last week.

These stories came from women at the shelter in the Indonesian embassy.

As of last week, 162 women were at the shelter, which can hold 75 people. They can stay up to months.

Some had been beaten, raped or tortured with scalding water and nearly all had been treated like slaves and not paid for months or years. Many still bear the scars, scalds and wounds.

Now they wait for their cases to be resolved via mediation with resentful former employers or make their way painfully slowly through Malaysia's court system before they can return to their villages and towns.

Most problematic

Of the estimated 300,000 maids in Malaysia, Indonesians make up 90 per cent while Filipinas constitute 8 per cent.

In 1991, there were only 585 registered Indonesian maids.

Indonesian Embassy second secretary (consular affairs), Susapto Anggoro Broto, said Malaysia was the most problematic of all the Asian countries that take in Indonesian maids.

Foreign domestic workers there are highly vulnerable, reported the paper. They lack legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit.

Migrant worker advocate Sandra Rajendra said: 'We can say Malaysia is one of the worst states, the country that least protects foreign workers, including domestic workers.'

Some were found to have been kept in bondage in the homes where they worked, a report on migrant workers says, and were forced to keep work routines tantamount to slavery.

In contrast, women from the Philippines, whose government insists on contracts guaranteeing regular days off and payment, are rarely victims of abuse and earn up to four times the RM500 to RM600 monthly wage of many Indonesians.

Ms Rajendra said the protracted legal process is extremely damaging for abused women, who inevitably sink into depression as they are forced to put their lives on hold and relive the trauma.

From The New Paper, "M'sia treats maids worst".

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Update on 18/06: Why am I not surprised to read about the following sick, sadistic attitude of Malaysian employers towards their domestic helpers?

PETALING JAYA - Employers are against the proposal to grant a mandatory day off in a week for their maids.

Some of them expressed concern that their maids would mix with bad hats if they were allowed to roam freely on their days off. They felt that off days should be on a mutual basis between the employer and the maid and not be dictated by law.

A housewife from here who wished to be known only as Puan Azizah said her Indonesian maid of 13 years had never asked for a day off and she seemed happy to be working for the family on a full-time basis.

'Where will they go on their own if they get an off day?' she asked.

Another employer W.H. Khoo, 44, expressed concern that the maids would be distracted and there was a danger of them mixing with the wrong company.

'I take my maid to the cinema and shopping. But I will discourage the proposal of a mandatory day off for maids,' she said.

Jim, 62, who works with a trading company said he did not mind taking his maid along on family outings but he was worried about his maid's safety if she was to be on her own.

Asean Federation for Psychiatry and Mental Health president Prof Dr Mohamad Hussain Habil said one day off was inadequate and maids should be treated equally like any worker under labour laws.

He added that a guideline should also be set for employers on the do's and don'ts in treating their maids.

From Straits Times, "Bosses oppose maids' day off".

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Update on 19/06: Indonesia to "temporarily stop sending its domestic helpers to Malaysia"? It's going to be a loss-loss situation! Malaysia employers will surely be suffering without their maids whereas Indonesian maids will lose their employment.

Indonesia is considering plans to temporarily stop sending its domestic helpers to Malaysia due to the abuse and mistreatment they sometimes suffer in the neighbouring country, a report said on Friday.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said the government would be forced to act unless the abuse stopped, amid a spate of recent cases that have shocked the country.

'We will likely stop it temporarily. We will have a meeting on June 23 with several related ministers to conduct a preliminary evaluation,' he was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency.

In the latest case to make headlines, Indonesian maid Siti Hajar was badly scarred after allegedly being repeatedly tortured by her Malaysian female employer for three years.

The 33-year-old maid from West Java was beaten with a cane and doused with boiling water. Her employer was charged on Thursday with causing grievous bodily harm and faces a 20-year jail term.

A Malaysian former flight attendant was sentenced in November to 18 years in jail for using an iron and scalding water to inflict horrific wounds on her Indonesian maid.

Malaysia has no laws governing conditions for domestic workers but the government has promised to draft legislation to protect them from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor conditions.

Mr Suparno said the government would block the flow of domestic servants 'until the Malaysian government gives us an assurance that it will protect Indonesian migrant workers there.'

Malaysia is home to some 1.2 million documented Indonesian workers, as well as about 800,000 illegal Indonesian workers.

From Straits Times, "Stop maids to M'sia?".

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Update on 25/06: it's now official & certain that Indonesia will temporarily suspend sending domestic helpers to Malaysia amid outrage over the abuse of its nationals by their employers.

Indonesia will temporarily suspend sending domestic helpers to Malaysia amid outrage over the abuse of its nationals by their employers, the labour minister said Thursday.

"We will temporarily stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia as we wait for the completion of a review on (the current) Memorandum of Understanding," Erman Suparno told reporters, adding the suspension was effective from Friday.

It will last at least until meetings between Indonesian and Malaysian officials in Kuala Lumpur in mid-July to discuss a new agreement on migrant workers, Suparno said.

Indonesia has proposed that domestic helpers be protected from non-payment of wages and poor conditions and be ensured of the right to days off and holidays, Suparno said.

"Domestic workers should also be able to hold on to their passports," he said.

"If our demands are not fulfilled and not guaranteed in the MoU, we will not continue (sending workers)," Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da'i Bachtiar said.

Malaysia has no laws governing conditions for domestic workers but the government has promised to draft legislation to protect them from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor conditions.

Malaysia is home to some 1.2 million documented Indonesian workers, as well as about 800,000 Indonesians working there illegally.

Cases of abuse of maids at the hands of Malaysian bosses are a frequent source of outrage in Indonesia, contributing to often prickly relations between the two countries.

A 43-year-old Malaysian woman was charged last week with causing grievous bodily harm to a 33-year-old Indonesian domestic helper by allegedly beating her with a cane and dousing her with boiling water.

A Malaysian former flight attendant was also sentenced in November to 18 years in jail for using an iron and scalding water to inflict horrific wounds on her maid.

From Channel NewsAsia, "Indonesia to suspend sending domestic helpers to Malaysia".

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Update on 27/06: Malaysia's prime minister said on Saturday his government will take stern action against anyone abusing Indonesian maids. Heh. What a reactive initiative! Only after Indonesia had suspended sending their domestic helpers to Malaysia, then the Malaysian prime minister started to wake up for a remedial action?!

Malaysia's prime minister said on Saturday his government will take stern action against anyone abusing Indonesian maids and urged employers to show greater interest in their welfare.

Mr Najib Razak was responding to an Indonesian government decision to temporarily stop Indonesians from traveling to Malaysia to take domestic work amid outrage over abuse reports.

'We have to take stern action under the law against those who abuse maids,' he told reporters.

'What we have to do is to ensure that whenever there are abuses they are dealt with expeditiously and that (employers) can step up to show a more caring attitude towards the interest and welfare of their maids,' he said.

'I think once the level of confidence is increased I'm sure they will resume sending their maids to Malaysia.

'I believe (the suspension) is a temporary halt, it is to their (Indonesia's) interest as well to allow their maids to work in Malaysia,' he said.

Indonesian labour minister Erman Suparno said on Thursday his country would stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia at least until a mid-July bilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur to discuss a new migrant worker agreement.

The action comes after a 43-year-old Malaysian woman was charged earlier this month with causing grievous bodily harm to an Indonesia woman she employed as a maid, allegedly beating her with a cane and dousing her with boiling water.

Malaysia has no laws governing the details of employment for domestic workers but has promised to draft legislation to protect them from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor conditions.

Some 1.2 million documented Indonesians are in Malaysia, with illegals estimated to number about 800,000.

From Straits Times, "Stern action against abuse".