PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA - Malaysia and Indonesia will review the memorandum of agreement signed 11 years ago on the terms and service of foreign workers.

'The basic principle behind the MoU on foreign workers with Indonesia will remain, but we may have to look into matters such as fee structure for agents, which has more than doubled since the signing,' said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said a joint committee would be set up between the two countries to look into some of the provisions and update them to be more in line with current practices and labour costs.

Dr Subramaniam had met Indonesian Manpower Minister Erman Suparno at his office here on Friday.

Of the 2.2 million foreign workers in the country, 1.2 million are from Indonesia.

Dr Subramaniam said he had also explained to Erman the ministry's plans to come out with a guideline on employers keeping their foreign workers' passports; a proposed amendment to the Employment Act to provide protection to domestic maids as well as complaints of abuse by unscrupulous bosses.

On the passport issue, he said this was in the last stages of preparation and would make employers more responsible towards their foreign workers.

'For instance, they will have to sign an agreement with their workers on holding the passports and they must also ensure that any renewal of their workers' visas, permits or even passports be done promptly,' he said.

Dr Subramaniam said he hoped to table the proposal to amend the Employment Act, which would include domestic maids being in the list of workers eligible for compensation, during this Parliament meeting.

'I also gave my guarantee to the minister that Indonesian workers are free to lodge complaints with our Manpower Department if they feel they have been abused or cheated,' he said.

On the social problems posed by Indonesian workers, Subramaniam said both the minister and he agreed for better cooperation to curb such problems.

'Most of the problems are created by illegal workers,' he said.