Abuse of maids in Malaysia slammed<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Thousands of Indonesian maids in Malaysia are victims of physical
\nand mental abuse and are denied basic rights, with scant legal
\nprotection, a human rights group said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said many maids were raped
\nor assaulted, worked up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week and
\ndenied even their meagre pay of less than $0.25 an hour.<\/p>\n
Nisha Varia, researcher in the group's women's rights
\ndivision, urged the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to alter
\ntheir labor laws to protect home workers.<\/p>\n
\"We're especially concerned about Malaysia because of the
\nsystemic problems. For example, the exclusion of domestic workers
\nfrom any type of legal protection is of great concern,\" she told
\na news conference.<\/p>\n
Last year, 18,000 domestic workers left their employers in
\nMalaysia, she said.<\/p>\n
Labor-starved Malaysia employs about 240,000 maids, more than
\n90 percent from neighboring Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n
Others come from the Philippines, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
Most maids are confined to their workplace and their salary is
\noften withheld until the end of the standard two-year contract,
\nafter which most are never paid in full and have little chance of
\nredress, it said.<\/p>\n
Many also suffer psychological, physical and sexual assault by
\nlabor agents and employers, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch noted that Malaysia's laws excluded
\ndomestic workers from most labor protection while Indonesia still
\nhas no specific laws protecting migrant workers, leaving the task
\nto agencies which control most aspects of the migration and
\nplacement process.<\/p>\n
Labor agents in Indonesia often subject prospective workers to
\nextortion, discriminatory hiring processes and months-long
\nconfinement in overcrowded training centers while those in
\nMalaysia turn a deaf ear to complaints of abusive treatment and
\npleas to return home, it said.<\/p>\n
The group based its findings and estimates on 115 interviews
\nwith maids, officials and others in Indonesia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
A Malaysian minister ruled out any legal changes.<\/p>\n
\"No country has that kind of law. Maids are very personal and
\nthey are part of the family. The normal law is enough if there is
\na report of abuse,\" Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid told
\nReuters.<\/p>\n
\"Less than 1 percent of maids are subjected to physical
\nabuse,\" he added.<\/p>\n
A recent abuse scandal trained the spotlight on the plight of
\nIndonesian maids after newspapers carried pictures of a bruised
\nand burnt teenager allegedly branded with a hot iron and scalding
\nwater by her Malaysian employer.<\/p>\n
The Bernama news agency reported on Tuesday that Malaysia, the
\nsecond-largest employer of Indonesian maids after Saudi Arabia,
\nis working on a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia to
\nimprove working conditions of foreign maids.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta on Wednesday, Manpower Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said
\nIndonesia had worked for increased legal protection for its
\nworkers in neighboring Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"The majority of cases found in Kuala Lumpur are about illegal
\nworkers and those people who do not have skills,\" he said on a
\ntelevision talk show.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, foreign domestic workers are protected by a
\nmandatory minimum wage and are entitled to a day off each week.<\/p>\n
But representatives groups say the real situation faced by
\nmany is quite different and difficult.<\/p>\n
Many do not get the minimum wage and are too fearful to
\ncomplain. That minimum was also cut last year as the government
\ntried to ease the effects of a drawn out economic slowdown.<\/p>",
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