JAKARTA: A Southeast Asian human rights organization has called on the Singapore government to do more to ensure domestic workers in the country are protected through labor laws and policing. A paper published by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) in Indonesia said that Singapore is failing to uphold the basic rights of domestic workers in the country, which the majority of whom hail from Indonesia and the Philippines. The report sourced agents, academics and migrant workers as well as activists in giving details on the current situation facing domestic workers in Southeast Asia's top economy. “There were 208,400 maids in June this year compared to 198,000 at the end of last year. Most come from Indonesia and the Philippines,” the report pointed out in the paper published earlier this month. The report said out that apart from maids flocking to Taiwan and Hong Kong for better working conditions, “the countries they come from have also made it harder to source for maids.” The NPTD paper added that “even if demand goes up, it might not necessarily be met, as the maid supply could be curbed by growing demand elsewhere.” It estimated Singapore will need 300,000 maids by 2030 based on an expected rise in resident households with young or elderly members, and those where both spouses work. The report follows the blacklisting of some 13 domestic worker agencies in Singapore in August, after reports of fraud and rights being violated came to light. The embassy said that they have reports that the agencies are “bribing Indonesian recruiters" and have also seen some 260 maids to Singapore arrive in recent months through illegal means. Policy changes that took effect from May 1 lowered the placement fees payable by the Singapore-bound maids to Indonesian recruiters and training centers from $3,000 to about $2,000. The changes, aimed at raising the professional standard of maids, spell out how the cost of sourcing and training the maids are to be shared among the different parties. The move comes as Indonesia continues to amp up its restrictions on domestic workers from the Southeast Asian country after numerous reports of poor conditions and abuse have come to attention in recent years. The country's Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said that among the moves that would be taken “were tighter monitoring of all employment agencies to ensure the workers were managed in a proper and official manner." He said the ministry would also “liaise with the foreign ministry of the countries involved to monitor and control the welfare situation of the Indonesian workers there." He, however, did not highlight the abuses facing workers abroad, but said his ministry and other organizations would become instrumental in battling the problems facing workers, especially domestic workers. “This situation forced the ministry to take steps to tighten the guidelines on sending of workers from Indonesia," Iskander said. The ministry's moves come on the heels of tension between Jakarta and Malaysia over sending domestic workers to the country after repeated abuse has been cited. But Indonesia was to begin sending domestic workers to Malaysia earlier this summer. Indonesia's labor attache in Malaysia had previously confirmed that some 11,600 Indonesian domestic workers are to arrive in Malaysia in the “near future" once they receive the green light from Jakarta. However, Agus Triyanto said they could only be brought into the country after completing 200 hours of training and certified by the Indonesian Professional Certification Authority. Malaysia also has been singled out by Indonesia as a threatening country for domestic workers. This is part of the conditions set forward under an agreement between the two governments to return Indonesian maids to Malaysia after Jakarta barred women from working in Malaysia last December after reports of abuse and sexual violence had been made public. “Indonesia will not approve the deployment of its maid to any country, including Malaysia, if they don't have the certificate of competency," he said after receiving four Indonesian maids, whose entries were handled by the National Association of Employment Agencies of Malaysia (Pikap) at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal. With the certificate, the attache said maids would be required to do the work according to the training they received, including cleaning the house, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and washing clothes. “They are not allowed to do other tasks as they do not have the expertise," he added. Triyanto said the four maids were the first batch of maids brought in by Pikap, while the second batch of eight others would be arriving soon.
