KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia said on Wed (Jul 13) it has temporarily stopped sending its citizens to work in Malaysia, including thousands recruited for that plantation sector, citing a breach in a worker recruitment deal signed between the 2 countries.
The freeze may be the latest blow intended for Malaysia – the world’s second-largest palm oil producer and a key link in the global supply chain — which is facing the shortage of around 1 . 2 mil workers that could derail its economic recuperation.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, told Reuters the particular freeze was imposed after Malaysia’s immigration authorities continued using an online recruitment system for domestic employees that had been linked to allegations of trafficking plus forced labour.
The system’s continued operation violated the terms of an contract signed between Malaysia and Indonesia in April, aimed at enhancing the protection associated with domestic workers employed in Malaysian households, stated Hermono, who passes one name.
Malaysia’s Human Resources Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) S Saravanan verified receiving a letter from Indonesian authorities informing him of the freeze. He told Reuters he would discuss the situation with the Home Ministry, which oversees the particular immigration department.
Malaysian companies acquired submitted around 20, 000 applications to get workers, about half of which were for tasks in the plantation and manufacturing sectors, according to Hermono.
Malaysia relies on millions of international workers, who generally come from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal, to fill factory plus plantation jobs shunned by locals.
But despite lifting a pandemic freeze on recruitment in February, Malaysia have not seen a significant return of workers amid slow government approvals and protracted talks with source nations over employee protections.
There have been developing concerns in recent years on the treatment of migrant employees, with seven Malaysian companies banned by United States in the last 2 yrs over what it described as “forced labour”.