Malaysia, Indonesia mending fences over maid abuse

Concerns that some 300,000 Indonesians employed as domestic workers in Malaysia face frequent mistreatment escalated following several assault accusations earlier this year. Since then, anti-Malaysia rhetoric has reached new heights after a promotional campaign about Malaysia featured dance from the Indonesian island of Bali.

Some Indonesians believed that their more prosperous neighbor was ignoring the rights of migrant workers, including those who work menial jobs in construction sites and plantations, and trying to pass off Indonesia's cultural heritage as its own.

Indonesia announced in June it would stop sending domestic workers to Malaysia until the grievances were addressed. Officials have since been holding talks on improving wages and legal protection for maids.

On Thursday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sat down with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak — the highest-level of such meetings yet.

Yudhoyono said that charges of abuse — of which there are hundreds every year, alleging beatings, overwork and the withholding of pay — should "be dealt with by the law speedily and fairly."

Najib pledged that his government would not take the matter lightly, but his meeting with Yudhoyono was not meant to yield any concrete announcements on protections for maids. Officials plan to hold further talks soon.

In the most recent high-profile case, Malaysian government prosecutors charged a man last month with allegedly killing his Indonesian housemaid, who died after being found beaten and locked in a bathroom. He faces a penalty of death by hanging if convicted.

Najib and Yudhoyono also pledged to boost cooperation to address frictions such as the recent spat over a campaign advertising Malaysia.

In August, some Indonesians accused Malaysia of appropriating Balinese dance for a TV promotion about Malaysia. It later turned out that the Malaysian government had no connection to the video, which had mistakenly described the dance as Malaysian. The video was broadcast on the Discovery Channel cable network, which apologized for the mistake.

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