MORE than 1,000 maids, mainly Indonesians, flee their cruel employers every year, migrant worker advocates reveal as more horror stories of “slave maids” emerged yesterday. Some, including illegal domestic help and victims of human trafficking, remain runaways for fear of deportation. Others seek protection from their respective embassies, in some cases, along with newborn babies — often the product of sexual assault.
The dreadful stories came from women at the shelter in the Indonesian Embassy on Jalan Tun Razak. Malaysia is home to some 300,000 foreign domestic workers among a migrant workforce — both legal and undocumented — of more than three million. In 1991, there were only 585 registered Indonesian maids. Foreign domestic workers here are highly vulnerable. They lack legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit.
“We can say Malaysia is one of the worst States, the country that least protects foreign workers, including domestic workers,” said migrant worker advocate Sandra Rajendra.
(MAlay mail, 12 june 2009)
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