“This is certainly not in accordance with the agreement and commitment of the two countries, because the placement should be through a one-channel system,” she said.
Ida said the use of SMO makes domestic helpers vulnerable to exploitation and it violates Law 18/2017 on the protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and appropriate departure procedure.
“In this regard, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur recommended the central government to temporarily suspend the placement of domestic workers in Malaysia until there is clarification from the Malaysian Government, including a commitment to end the SMO mechanism,” said Ida.