Human Resources Minister Saravanan Says Malaysia Will Cancel The Quota Of Entrepreneurs Who Cut The Salaries Of Foreign Workers

Malaysian HR Minister, M Saravanan when meeting with the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziah (Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Malaysian government will cancel the quota given to employers who cut the salaries of foreign workers to cover the costs of bringing them to Malaysia.

This was conveyed by the Malaysian Minister of Human Resources M Saravanan as reported by Bernama via Antara, Friday, June 3.

Saravanan said any employer who brought in foreign workers had to bear all costs, including accommodation and flight fares, so that no costs were incurred by foreign workers.

However, according to him, the ministry cannot interfere in any matter related to agents in the workers' home countries.

"Employers should not bear the cost only to be reimbursed by deductions from workers' salaries later. If there are complaints from workers via the digital Working For Workers (WFW) application, the ministry will cancel their employer quotas," he said.

Saravanan said that at a press conference after launching the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) Contribution Campaign for Malaysian Armed Forces volunteers (MAF), Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Malaysian Civil Defense Force (APM), Department of Volunteers Malaysia (RELA), Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and Department of Social Welfare (JKM) in Kuala Lumpur.

On the same occasion Saravanan denied getting protests from employment agencies in Bangladesh while leading a delegation to the recent Bangladesh-Malaysia Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in Dhaka.

He admitted that he received a good reception and managed to hold a useful discussion about the entry of Bangladeshi workers into Malaysia.

Meanwhile, regarding the delay in the re-entry of Indonesian workers to Malaysia which was supposed to start on May 31, Saravanan said the plan had to be postponed because the Minister of Manpower (Menaker) Ida Fauziyah still had other activities.

The Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) in the Domestic Sector in Malaysia. It also regulates the use of a one-channel system for the entire process of placing, monitoring and returning PMI so that it can be monitored properly.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding was carried out by the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah and the Malaysian Minister of Human Resources M Saravanan in the presence of President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (1/4).

Previously, Saravanan had said around 10,000 domestic workers would be brought from Indonesia as part of a pilot project after the MoU was signed between Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition, he also mentioned that Indonesia agreed to allow the entry of 10,000 workers for the plantation sector.