Cambodian maids: Govt stand unclear

Posted on 4 November 2011
By Michelle Chun
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3, 2011): Maid agencies in Cambodia have not received an official statement from the government to halt recruitment while 2,000 approved maids are still waiting to come to Malaysia, the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) said today.

“Since the ban that was announced by the Cambodian government on Oct 14, the maid agencies there have not received any official letter and are still recruiting people, so we don't know where it stands.

“Meanwhile, the Malaysian embassy there is at a loss as to whether to approve the 2,000 maids who had been cleared prior to the ban,” Papa president Jeffrey Foo said.

He said Cambodian non-governmental organisations (NGO) had lashed out at the Malaysian embassy in Phnom Penh for wanting to give approval to the 2,000 maids, claiming the embassy’s actions disrespected the government.

“We hope the Cambodian government can quickly make it clear whether the 2,000 maids are approved to come to Malaysia, and that the Foreign Affairs and Human Resources ministries will look into the matter," he said.

MCA public services and complaints bureau chief Datuk Michael Chong, meanwhile, said Papa representatives had met Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Kohilan Pillay last Tuesday to hand over a memorandum on its commitment to improve the welfare of Cambodian maids in the country.

“Kohilan said the ministry would work closely with the Human Resources ministry to clear the air on the Cambodian government's stand,” he said.

Several NGOs had recently claimed that Cambodian maids were abused by their Malaysian employers, with Tenaganita claiming it had received 61 such cases as of July this year.

Papa, however, said the statements were unfounded and that Malaysians were not the only ones to blame as there were local agencies in Cambodia that operated dishonestly.

“Falsification of documents by local agencies there is common, and they also hold the workers for a few months before sending them over,” Foo said.

“We are always working with the best interests of the maids in mind, and work closely with the embassies involved.

“A hotline is being set up for Cambodian maids where they can air their grievances or report abuses to a Cambodian counsellor, and we are also working to establish a fair system of wages for them,” Foo said.