JAKARTA: Female houseworkers in Indonesia, only a few days after learning that Saudi Arabia would continue to bar them from being hired to the ultra-conservative Gulf coutnry, as the country has set forward new requirements that could greatly hinder workers' ability to get work, and be paid properly. According to the Indonesian government's labor body, an official told Bikyamasr.com that “workers will be allowed into the country and be given a job that is of one duty only.” That official said they would be paid 700 ringgit ($229) monthly, a far cry from previous salaries of three to four times that with wealthier employers. “I can't work for that. I would barely survive and have little to send back home,” one Indonesian maid, Monjina, told Bikyamasr.com. The decision is an “effort to crackdown on exploitation that has often been part of women in this country working in homes abroad and we want it to end,” the official added, who was not authorized to speak to the media. Malaysia's news agency Bernama reported that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed surprise over the weekend when asked about the new requirements by the Indonesian government. The Prime Minister described the new conditions announced by Indonesia's Labor Placement Development director-general Reyna Usman as “not reasonable.” “We hope on their side they will revert to the agreement reached between me [and] Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [on this issue],” the prime minister said. “All the criteria [for the sending of Indonesian maids to Malaysia] were discussed and the ministers concerned were satisfied with the outcome. No further issues were raised then.” Razak said he was surprised that after the agreement on the sending over of the maids was signed, issues on the matter were raised on the Indonesian side. For women in Indonesia looking to go abroad for work, in recent months their options have become smaller and smaller. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/6W8YM Tags: Indonesia, Maid, Malaysia, Restrictions, Women Section: Business, Latest News, Southeast Asia
