RI Embassy initiates maid protection
RI Embassy initiates maid protection
SINGAPORE: The Indonesian Embassy has drawn up rules for
employers and domestic service agencies in Singapore to curb the
high number of deaths and abuse, it said on Wednesday.
So far, 186 agencies have been given approval under the new
accreditation system.
Terms listed under the employment agreement published in The
Straits Times include a rest day on Sunday, prohibiting the
cleaning of window exteriors, hanging of clothing from high-rise
homes and shielding maids from violence.
The agreement does not include penalties for failing to
comply. Agencies said it would be hard to enforce.
Ninety Indonesian maids have died here since 1999, 52 in
accidents and 25 from suicide. The latest victim fell to her
death on Sunday, only two days after arriving in Singapore. --
DPA
;AFP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-RP-Moro-talks
Date set for peace talks between Philippines and Muslim rebels
JP/11/ASEAN
Date set for RP-MILF peace talks
PHILIPPINES: Peace talks between the Philippines and the Muslim
separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are to resume in
Malaysia on Aug. 4, Kuala Lumpur's ambassador to Manila said on
Wednesday.
Ambassador Mohamed Taufik said his government was prepared to
host the talks aimed at ending the MILF's 25-year insurgency for
the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the southern
main island of Mindanao.
Malaysia has been acting as a third-party intermediary in the
peace talks, which were suspended earlier this year amid a spate
of bombings and attacks blamed by the military on the MILF.
President Gloria Arroyo had also accused the MILF of providing
sanctuary to terrorists; but MILF chief Salamat Hashim later
publicly disowned links to terrorist groups, including the Jamaah
Islamiyah, and agreed to a cease-fire with Manila to pave the way
for the resumption of negotiations. -- AFP
;AFP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Laos-politics
Laos sacks popular provincial governor
JP/11/ASEAN
Laos sacks popular provincial governor
LAOS: Lao President Khamtai Siphandone has sacked the popular
governor of Xieng Khouang province and replaced him with his
deputy, a member of the ethnic Hmong minority, Radio Free Asia
(RFA) said on Wednesday.
Soukanh Maharaj was sacked for "incompetence" in the past few
weeks, according to sources in Laos who spoke on condition of
anonymity to the U.S.-government funded network.
His deputy, Sivone Ya Xiong Nhia, has replaced him as
governor, and Soukanh Maharaj was demoted to deputy governor.
Local officials declined to comment on the reshuffle, and
several said they had been explicitly warned against discussing
the matter, RFA said in a statement.
Local sources told RFA they believed the move was related to
continued unrest among the Hmong, who have waged a low-level
insurgency for nearly three decades against the communist
government. -- AFP