15/5/06 ( The Jakarta Post, Jakarta) - Indonesians working in Malaysia's informal sector will be accorded basic rights as of June 1, following the implementation of a bilateral agreement signed by the two countries in Bali during the weekend.

Manpower and Transmigration Ministry spokesman Irianto Ruslan Simbolon told The Jakarta Post that under the agreement Indonesians working as maids, construction workers and those in the Malaysian service sector would have their wages reviewed annually. They would also be entitled to one day off a week and annual leave.

"The joint working group (overseeing the agreement) agreed this morning to set the monthly minimum wage between 400 ringgit and 500 ringgit, an increase of around 30 percent from the current wage. Workers will also get a single day off a week and receive annual leave to visit their home villages," he said.

The joint working group consisting of senior officials from the two countries was set up following the signing of the memorandum of understanding by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and Malaysian Home Minister Dato M. Radzi bin Seikh Ahmad. Present at the ceremony were President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Irianto said that Indonesian workers would also be allowed to exercise their religious and civil rights in Malaysia.

"Employers will be required to allow Muslim workers to perform their daily and Friday prayers and non-Muslims will be allowed to go to churches or temples. Workers will also be allowed to exercise their right to vote during general elections in Indonesia and can cast their ballots at the Indonesian Embassy or consulates general," Irianto said.

The two countries agreed that all labor disputes between employers and workers be settled in the Malaysian courts.

Malaysian employers would also be required to pay workers' recruitment fees so workers would not borrow money or have to sell assets to go overseas.

An estimated two million Indonesians work in Malaysia, mostly as domestic helpers and as contract workers on construction sites and in palm oil estates. Almost 50 percent of the workers are believed to have entered the neighbor illegally.

However, none of the illegal workers in Malaysia would be covered by agreement, Irianto said. Neither had their been any discussion about how to legitimize these illegals, who were generally the lowest-paid workers in Malaysia, he said.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticized Malaysia last year for the widespread abuse of foreign workers occurring in Malaysia.

The workers, mostly from Indonesia, were underpaid, employed for more than eight hours a day and were uninsured, the group said.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific Labor Exporters Association chairman Anthon Sihombing hailed the bilateral agreement as a positive move.

However, he said the two countries need to focus more on controlling the flow of Indonesian illegals to Malaysia and stopping Malaysian brokers from directly recruiting workers from remote villages in Indonesia.

"We have frequently filed complaints about this issue to the relevant authorities but they have turned a blind eye to the problem," he said.