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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities have suspended 19
maid agencies and blacklisted 85 employers for failing to pay their
domestic workers, a report said Friday.
Home Affairs Minister Mohamad
Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the maid agencies were suspended after
public complaints of cheating and for breaching conditions of their
permits.
The ministry formerly issued
warnings to agencies but it had to take the action to suspend them
due to the number of complaints received, Radzi said according to
New Straits Times.
“They have until the end of
this month to appeal the suspension and if they fail to do so, their
permits will be immediately terminated,” Radzi was quoted as
saying.
He warned that once a license had
been terminated, the owner would not be able to operate another
agency even if it were under a new name.
Radzi said the 85 employers will
be given a chance to appeal against their blacklisting but they must
prove they will be able to pay their maids’ wages soon.
The minister also highlighted
that the agency that brought in the Indonesian maid, Ceriyati Dapin,
had had its license suspended for breaching rules.
Ceriyati made headlines when she
escaped from a 15th-story apartment in Kuala Lumpur by knotting
pieces of cloth together and climbing out of the window.
The 33-year-old domestic worker,
who was trying to flee from her employer, had to be rescued by the
fire department after climbing down three floors.
Police said they detained her
boss and were investigating her for alleged wrongful confinement and
the causing of injury with a dangerous weapon.
Malaysia depends heavily on
foreign maids but they enjoy little protection under labor laws. The
maids often live in and work long hours under tough conditions to
earn about $130 a month.
 --AFP
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