PUTRAJAYA: A bilateral mechanism will be set up to settle issues concerning Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.
This is among measures to further strengthen protection and the welfare of Indonesian migrant workers and their families in Malaysia, which has been a sticking point between the two neighbours, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo during his visit here today.
Widodo, better known as Jokowi, announced the mechanism during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after their special bilateral meeting at Sri Perdana here.
“I appreciate Anwar’s commitment to protecting migrant workers and strengthening just laws for Indonesian workers.
“Anwar and I will form a bilateral mechanism to settle disputes involving Indonesia migrant workers,” he said.
Other measures the two leaders touched on include building community learning centres and resolving issues at Malaysian Immigration detention centres.
“The one-channel system (to recruit Indonesian domestic helpers) should also be optimised,” Jokowi said.
During Anwar’s visit to Jakarta in January, it was announced that the learning centres would cater to the children of Indonesian migrant workers.
A joint statement released after Anwar and Jokowi’s meeting said that three working group meetings have been held since both nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the employment and protection of Indonesian domestic workers on April 1 last year.
Both sides also agreed to review the 2004 MOU on recruitment of Indonesian workers to address all issues in a comprehensive manner, the statement said.
Indonesians make up the highest number of migrant workers to Malaysia, with the Immigration Department saying there are 704,175 Indonesian workers in Malaysia. However, Bank of Indonesia states there are 1.67 million such workers in Malaysia in 2022.
Jokowi is on a two-day working visit to Malaysia which ended yesterday.
