Human resources minister M Saravanan said the workers will be brought into the country as part of a pioneer project after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Recruitment and Placement of Domestic Workers is signed between him and his Indonesian counterpart Ida Fauziyah in Bali on Feb 7 and 8.

The announcement comes four months after the freeze on foreign workers, including domestic helpers, was extended until last December.

In a statement, Saravanan said the MoU has been agreed upon, including on matters such as a One Maid One House policy, a one-channel system, and minimum salaries for the domestic workers.

“The One Maid One Task policy will be replaced with a One Maid One House rule, where a domestic worker will be placed in a household with no more than six people in it.

“In addition, both parties have agreed to use the one channel system as a single route to take in domestic workers into the country,” he said.

He also said that issues related to recruiting costs will be reviewed every six months to ensure they are in line with current developments by taking into account flight costs and quarantine.

Saravanan said the pilot project is “crucial and significant” in evaluating the effectiveness of the MoU’s implementation, as well as improving any flaw that might arise.

He said his Indonesian counterpart also agreed to allow the intake of 10,000 Indonesian workers for the plantation sector.

“This would be the beginning of the recruitment of 32,000 foreign workers in the sector with special exemptions that were decided during a Cabinet meeting on April 7, 2021,” he said.

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