Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono yesterday claimed that many workers from the Republic is treated like modern-day slaves in Malaysia and that such mistreatment only happens in our country and not in other countries or regions where there are many Indonesian workers such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
As reported by Malay Mail, the ambassador refers to those from his country that are working as maids with many cases in our country of them having to work for years unpaid for their labour. Worse, there are even many instances of these workers having their identification papers taken away by the employers in Malaysia.
Hermono also recounted Indonesians who worked long hours without rest days and those who suffered physical abuse by their employers. He further noted that domestic workers are more likely to face abuse in comparison to other migrant workers as they work alone and live in their employer’s residence. Hence, these abused maids either could not flee from their employers or have challenges in informing the Indonesian embassy or consulate-general.
Hermono commented,
“They’re warned that if they run away, the police will catch them and the immigration will send them to their depot. These kinds of threats are pure elements of forced labour,”
Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono.
The Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia also pointed to a recent case in Malaysia involving an employer, an alleged ‘Tan Sri’ who justified not paying salary to a maid for approximately 10 years by saying she was allowed to live at their house and that they were paying for her food. Hermono stressed,
“That’s an example of modern-day slavery or forced labour… We have domestic workers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but we don’t have serious problems like in Malaysia. So why do we have these problems here?”
Hermono also asserted that the Indonesian embassy had helped in 206 cases with employers paying off more than RM2 million and that over 40 cases are now in the courts in our country. Furthermore, the Indonesian embassy also helped 16 maids this year in getting more than RM300,000 in unpaid salaries returned.
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Also read: Report: Malaysian Employers Stingiest In Southeast Asia When It Comes To Paying Employees
