Kuala Lumpur, (AntaraKL) - Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana has called on the government to expedite the implementation of a moratorium on sending Indonesian migrant workers to Malaysia.
"I have sent the message to President Jokowi via the Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy to speed up the moratorium's implementation," Kirana noted here on Friday.
The moratorium was prepared to temporarily stop the dispatch of Indonesian migrant workers to Malaysia in order to evaluate the current regulation. Indonesia has been implementing the same moratorium for countries in the Middle East since 2012.
"This moratorium will allow us to create new and better governance for migrant workers' dispatch, for instance, their salary and matching their capabilities with the employer's requirements," Kirana explained.
Earlier, during the Annual Indonesia-Malaysia Joint Consultative Meeting in Sabah, Malaysia, in November 2017, President Joko Widodo had addressed the need to issue a moratorium on the dispatch of Indonesian migrant workers, in particular domestic workers, to Malaysia.
"The two countries need to seriously address the new governance model on migrant workers, and if we are serious, I think it can be completed within a month," Kirana noted.
The push for the government to implement a moratorium on the dispatch of migrant workers to Malaysia sparked following the case of Adelina, an Indonesian domestic worker, who died of fatigue, anemia, inadequate food intake, and inhuman torture by her employer. She was found helpless on the foyer of her employer's house in the Permai Town Park area, Bukti Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia.
According to data from the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, a total of 217 cases of deaths of Indonesian migrant workers abroad were reported in 2017, of which 69 cases, or 32 percent, occurred in Malaysia.
Ambassador urges accelerated implementation of moratorium on Indonesia migrant workers
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"This moratorium will allow us to create new and better governance for migrant workers' dispatch, for instance, their salary and matching their capabilities with the employer's requirements," Kirana explained.
