Indonesia to lift freeze on workers' entry to Malaysia

Indonesia has lifted the restrictions on the entry of its workers to Malaysia, and agreed to integrate the existing system between the Malaysian Immigration Department and the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur for the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers (PDI).

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said the integration of this system would act as a single channel for the recruitment and entry of PDI into Malaysia as agreed in the previous memorandum of understanding (MoU).

"This system will be operational in three more weeks under the supervision of the Malaysia-Indonesia Joint Working Group," he said in a statement with his Indonesian counterpart Ida Fauziyah.

He said a pilot project would be implemented for a period of three months once the system’s integration is complete to ensure the smooth execution of the single-channel system.

"Therefore, the Indonesian side has agreed to withdraw the restrictions on the entry of PDI and Indonesian labourers into Malaysia starting Aug 1," said Saravanan.

Saravanan voiced confidence that the resolution of the issues in the MoU of PDI would lead to the smooth entry of Indonesian workers into Malaysia in the domestic services sector as well as other sectors that are allowed to employ foreign workers.

He reminded employers whose foreign worker quotas have been approved by the human resources ministry to immediately make levy payments with the immigration department.

Employers who wish to employ Indonesian workers can recruit them from Monday next week, he said.

Saravanan was in Jakarta in conjunction with the meeting of the Joint Working Group between Malaysia and Indonesia as outlined in the MoU regarding the PDI which was completed on July 27.

The meeting discussed policy and technical issues in the implementation of the MoU signed on April 1.

Earlier, Ida said a mutual agreement on the necessary steps was important to ensure the full implementation of the MoU, especially on the single-channel system.

The Joint Working Group had previously discovered several policy and technical implementation issues that could affect the implementation of the MoU.

"We agree to take all of the necessary steps to ensure that the terms in the MoU are fully complied with by all parties by involving the respective governments' relevant agencies or institutions," she said.