World News - January 09, 2008
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will discuss sensitive issues for both countries, especially migrant workers, when the two leaders meet in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
"This is an informal meeting so there is no fixed agenda on what both leaders will discuss. But all issues considered by both countries as sensitive will be tackled," Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda told reporters after his annual speech on Indonesian foreign policy here Tuesday.
On Thursday, the first day of his visit, the President will receive the highest award from the Malaysian government while on Friday both leaders begin their bilateral meeting. The President will leave Malaysia on Saturday.
Hassan singled out the issue of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia as one of the main topics of the meeting, as the lack of protection afforded Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia has called much outrage at home.
The foreign minister said that Indonesia would demand the Malaysian government speed up the process to grant migrant workers identification cards that could be used as a valid replacement for a passport, which according to Malaysian law must be kept by the employers.
"Our legal migrant workers must quickly get ID that is recognized by all Malaysian government offices to prevent them from being arrested by the Malaysian police and other institutions when they are out of their employers' houses," Hassan said.
Indonesian officials and non-governmental organizations have criticized Malaysia for allowing employers to keep the passports of migrant workers. In many cases, employers have used passports to force workers to stay at home or to withhold pay.
In other cases, the absence of a passport or other identification can prevent workers from leaving abusive employers.
Of the approximately 1.5 million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, more than 300,000 are employed as maids.
Numerous Indonesian migrant workers have died in Malaysia, allegedly at the hands of abusive employers. Last year alone, 46 Indonesians died in Malaysia without a clear explanation of the cause of their deaths from police.
While Malaysian officials have claimed the mistreatment of domestic helpers is not widespread, some 1,500 Indonesian maids run away from their employers every month, often because of abuse or dissatisfaction with long working hours, their lack of freedom or unpaid salaries.
Indonesia has complained that the legal process for the abuse cases has been unfair and slow.
Attacks on Indonesian citizens and abuses of migrant workers in Malaysia, along with a row over intellectual copyright, have seen relations between Indonesia and Malaysia sour recently.
Fueled by media reports, a series of anti-Malaysia demonstrations were organized by nationalist organizations in Indonesia.
Although both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments have claimed the issues have had no effect on diplomatic relations between the two countries, others have said the incidents aggravated the already present mistrust between Malaysians and Indonesians.
