VZCZCXRO4124
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #0908/01 3140849
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100849Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3407
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA PRIORITY 1814
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 2764

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 000908 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MY
SUBJECT: DEATH OF INDONESIAN MAID HIGHLIGHTS CONTINUING 
MIGRANT WORKER PROBLEMS IN MALAYSIA 
 
REF: KL 775 TIP AMBASSADOR CDEBACA'S VISIT TO 
     MALAYSIA AUGUST 25-27 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: On October 26, Muntik Hani, an 
Indonesian woman working as a maid in a Selangor, Malaysia 
suburb, died of injuries sustained allegedly at the hands of 
her Malaysian employers, an extreme case of the abusive 
treatment that Indonesian maids sometimes receive here.  Her 
employers have been arrested and two senior police officials 
have been assigned to head the investigative task force. 
This is merely the most recent case in a series of incidents 
of Malaysian mistreatment of Indonesian migrant workers that 
has strained relations between the neighboring countries. 
The government of Indonesia has pushed to update an MOU 
between the nations that would offer better protections for 
its migrant workers.  The GOM appears to be taking this 
incident seriously and working hard to ease tensions between 
Malaysia and its neighbor, Indonesia.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On October 20, police rescued Hani from the house of 
her Malaysian employer, A. Murugan, an ethnic Indian Tamil 
employed as a vendor of sugar cane juice.  The Indonesian 
domestic cleaner who was hired to replace Hani found her in a 
locked bathroom.  Police reported that when she was found, 
Hani was tied up around her arms and legs, had bruises all 
over her body, a broken back and wrist, and a serious wound 
to her right leg that exposed bone.  She appeared to have 
been locked in the bathroom for two days without food. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On October 24, Hani fell into a coma and on October 
26, she died from her injuries.  The police have classified 
the case as a murder and have arrested her employer, A. 
Murugan, his wife, and his mother.  Deputy Inspector-General 
of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar has announced he and Federal 
Criminal Investigative Division Director Datuk Seri Bakri 
Zinin will be heading the investigative task force.  Murugan 
had his first appearance in court on Friday October 30.  He 
has been charged with murder and faces the death penalty if 
convicted.  On November 3, Murugan pled not guilty to the 
charges against him.  His trial is scheduled for January 18, 
¶2010. 
 
MIGRANT WORKERS: A HISTORY OF MISTREATMENT 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labor 
and depends heavily on domestic workers from Indonesia. 
UNHCR estimates that there are three million migrant workers 
living in Malaysia of which one million are present 
illegally.  NGOs estimate that well over one million migrants 
living in Malaysia are from Indonesia.  Although Malaysians 
welcome the cheap labor they tend to blame the ills of 
society on migrant workers and view them as illegal 
immigrants and criminals. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mistreatment and abuse of migrant workers and maids 
is a contentious issue and a major cause of the strained 
relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years. 
The Indonesian press has picked up on Hani's story and have 
given it prominent coverage.  News of the death angered 
Indonesians and led to a peaceful 30-person protest outside 
the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.  Although the GOI has 
publically praised the GOM's firm handling of Hani's case, it 
likely feels pressure to take further action to protect its 
migrant workers overseas.  Hani's case is not the first 
indication that Indonesian maids suffer abuse in Malaysia. 
In early 2004, another Indonesia maid, Nirmala Bonot, was the 
subject of abuse by her Malaysian employer that included 
being burned with a hot iron and having boiling water thrown 
on her.  In November 2008, her employer was sentenced to 18 
years in jail.  In June 2009, Siti Hajar, also an Indonesian 
maid, suffered similar abuse at the hands of her employer 
before she escaped.  Hajar's case prompted Indonesia to 
temporarily ban the sending of domestic workers to Malaysia 
and a call for a newly negotiated memorandum of understanding 
(MOU) between the two countries.  On June 25, The Star, a 
major local newspaper, reported that Indonesian authorities 
receive up to 150 complaints per month alleging ill 
treatment, overwork, unpaid salaries, and physical abuse in 
Malaysia.  Speaking on October 30 at a seminar on migrant 
workers' access to health care, Irene Fernandez, Director of 
the local NGO Tenaganita said "the living conditions of 
Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia can be described as 
the three D's ) Dangerous, Dirty, and Difficult.8 
 
¶6. (SBU) In an August 27 meeting with Ambassador for TIP 
CdeBaca, Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of 
Home Affairs Raja Azahar confirmed that the GOM was working 
with Indonesia to create a new migrant workers' MOU to be 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000908  002 OF 003 
 
 
announced shortly that would include a minimum wage for 
Indonesian migrant workers, specific language restricting the 
confiscation of passports, and one day off per week (See 
Reftel).  In addition, he noted that the MOU would also 
mandate that employers pay migrant employees by depositing 
their paychecks into a bank account in the migrant's name to 
allow the GOM the ability to monitor whether employers are 
complying with the agreement.  Subsequent meetings with GOM 
officials as well as news reports corroborate that such 
efforts are ongoing but an agreement has not yet been 
reached.  (COMMENT: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang 
Yuhoyono's trip to Malaysia scheduled for November 11 
presents an opportunity to discuss the MOU as well as the 
issue of protection of Indonesian maids in Malaysia. END 
COMMENT). 
 
¶7. (SBU) Many of the Indonesian migrant workers are women and 
children, uneducated and poor, and lacking in legal 
documentation ) traits that make them extremely vulnerable 
to exploitation by human traffickers.  The 2006 MOU between 
the GOI and the GOM offers few protections to Indonesian 
Migrant workers and NGOs have criticized it for failing to 
include basic human rights protections.  The billions of U.S. 
dollars that such workers remit from Malaysia to Indonesia 
each year likely influenced the GOI to agree to such terms. 
Indonesians are paid significantly less than their Filipino 
counterparts, work long hours under poor conditions, have no 
legal recourse to recoup unpaid wages, and many find 
themselves in a form of debt bondage wherein their first six 
months to a year's pay is withheld to cover their travel fees 
to Malaysia.  The GOM and Philippine government agreed on 
guidelines to protect documented Filipino workers from 
exploitation, mandating a minimum salary of 1400 Malaysian 
Ringgit per month ($400 USD) and one day off per week, in 
addition to the pre-departure orientation seminars in the 
Philippines required of all overseas-bound Filipino workers. 
While these guidelines may be difficult to enforce in 
practice, they do establish a baseline for protecting the 
rights and welfare of Filipino workers in Malaysia ) a 
baseline that Indonesian workers simply do not have. 
 
¶8. (SBU) There have been two recent cases in Malaysia where 
Indonesian maids have lashed out at their employers.  On 
August 18, 2009, a Malaysian court sentenced Hanni Seo to 
four years, eight months imprisonment for assaulting her 
employer, Phang Kian Huang.  During sentencing, the judge 
noted that he took into account that Seo was remorseful, had 
taken responsibility for her actions, and had not been paid 
by Huang for 20 months.  On November 3, 2009, a Malaysian 
court sentenced Nurhayati Ahmad to six years imprisonment for 
poisoning her employer, Jaharah Daud.  Ahmad's lawyer claimed 
that Ahmad acted because she could no longer stand being 
verbally abused by Daud. 
 
PROACTIVE MEASURES TAKEN BY MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) Both the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia and a 
spokesman for the Indonesian President have publically 
praised the GOM's firm handling of Hani's case.  They have 
also expressed their desire to have the case against Murugan 
proceed quickly unlike the case against Nirmala Bonot's 
employer which took over four years to prosecute.  (COMMENT: 
Given the scheduling of Murugan's trial for January 2010, it 
appears that the GOM is making a concerted effort to 
fast-track this case.  END COMMENT). 
 
¶10. (SBU) On October 26, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah 
issued an unprecedented press statement addressing Hani's 
case in which he expressed the GOM's "deepest sympathy and 
condolences to the family of the deceased, as well as to all 
Indonesians."  He added that the GOM "condemns all forms of 
abuse against any worker, regardless of nationality or sector 
of employment." 
 
¶11. (SBU) On October 27, Home Minister Datuk Seri 
Hishammuddin Hussein said, "I view this matter seriously and 
may suggest at the next Cabinet meeting that we set up a 
special unit, comprising various ministries to prevent a 
repeat of such a case."  He added that the case should be 
brought to court as soon as possible "and judgment served 
immediately." 
 
¶12. (SBU) On November 1, The Star reported that when asked 
for a comment on Hani, Minister of Women, Family, and 
Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said 
that proper punishment should be meted out against the 
alleged abuser as soon as possible. 
 
¶13. (SBU) On November 9, Bernama reported that Minister Of 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000908  003 OF 003 
 
 
Human Resources Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam said that starting 
on December 1, his ministry will commence making random 
visits to homes to get feedback on the situation of foreign 
maids.  The visits would be conducted through the Human 
Resources Ministry's Manpower Department and would 
concentrate on maids from Indonesia.  He added that maids 
would be told of their rights and given a number to call if 
they suffered any abuse. 
 
¶14. (U) This cable has been coordinated with U.S. Embassies 
Jakarta and Manila. 
KEITH