Malaysia, Cambodia sign agreement to protect maids

Cambodian Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng waits for his flight to Malaysia at Phnom Penh International Airport on Monday. - The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian maids who work in Malaysia will be given smartphones, bank accounts and counselling under a new agreement signed by the two countries on Nov 29, an employment agency representative said – measures intended to prevent the kind of widespread abuses that resulted in a ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia six years ago.

But the news, announced in Malaysian media on Nov 29, came as a surprise to labour rights groups in both countries who said they had not been consulted on the long-awaited MoU, which still has yet to be made public.