Indonesia has lifted its restrictions on the entry of its workforce into Malaysia. Jakarta has also 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).
Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the integration of this system will 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 will be implemented for a period of three months once the system’s integration is completed to ensure the smooth execution of the single-channel system. He added that Jakarta has agreed to withdraw the restrictions on the entry of PDI and Indonesian labourers into Malaysia starting August 1. Datuk Seri Saravanan believes that the resolution of the issues in the MOU of PDI will lead to the smooth entry of Indonesian workers into Malaysia in the domestic service sector, as well as other sectors that are allowed to employ foreign workers. Therefore, he reminded employers whose foreign worker quotas had been approved by the Ministry of Human Resources to immediately make levy payments with the Immigration Department. Employers who wish to employ Indonesian workers can recruit from next Monday, he said.
