‘Don’t stop sending domestic workers’

Maid’s death an isolated case, Zahid assures Indonesia

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia hopes that Indonesia will still send domestic workers to the country despite the death of an Indonesian maid.

This is because the case is an isolated one, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Malaysian maid agencies and employers also asked Indonesia not to stop sending its citizens here to work as domestic maids.

Indonesian maid Adelina Lisao, 21, died at the Bukit Mertajam Hospital last Sunday after being rescued a day earlier from a home where she was allegedly made to sleep on the porch with a Rottweiler.

She had wounds on her body and died of multiple organ failure.

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Jeffrey Foo said a previous freeze imposed by Indonesia did not prevent workers from coming to Malaysia illegally.

Indonesia previously imposed a moratorium on sending its domestic workers to Malaysia in 2009 but the ban was lifted in 2011.

Currently there are more than 200,000 Indonesian domestic workers here, he said.

Foo acknowledged that there were cases where maids were badly treated by their Malaysian employers.

He said employers who are unhappy with their maids should consult their agents for further action.

But he pointed out that this could only be done if employers had gone through proper and legal channels when hiring their foreign maids.

“What we have seen is illegal employment which can be problematic when issues arise between employer and maid as there is no third party to offer help,” said Foo.

“We should have more stringent checks on employers and make sure only fit and qualified foreign maids are employed,” he said.

Foo said all stakeholders should look at a better system to manage the welfare of maids here.

Malaysian Maid Employers Association (Mama) president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein said the majority of employers were good people, with many foreign maids choosing to return to Malaysia.

“The police are investigating the case and Indonesia should give due consideration to our legal system.

“I hope they (Indonesia) will not reintroduce the moratorium,” he said.

In Bagan Datuk, Dr Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said he would meet Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri soon to find the best possible solution to the issue.

“We (Malaysia) express deep regret if the media report about Indonesia intending to stop sending its domestic workers to the country is true.

“In fact, we have standard operating procedures that must be adhered to and the Malaysian Government will never protect employers found to have acted cruelly (against their maids),” Bernama reported him as saying after he joined a walkabout at Dataran Bagan Datuk here yesterday.