Ismail said he does not want the problem to affect Malaysia’s ties with Indonesia.

“The home ministry and the human resources ministry need to resolve this issue quickly. I do not want it to drag on. I am afraid it will affect our ties with Indonesia,” he told reporters at an event here.

Earlier this week, Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Hermono said Jakarta has imposed a temporary freeze on all Indonesian workers entering Malaysia due to the immigration department’s continued use of the Maid Online System (MOS) to facilitate the recruitment of Indonesian maids.

Hermono, who goes by a single name, also criticised Malaysia’s refusal to adhere to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Indonesian maids, describing it as a “disgrace”. The MoU was signed three months ago.

Under the terms of the MoU, the MOS was to be discontinued and replaced with the One Channel System under the human resources ministry.

When asked if the MoU would be cancelled, Ismail said they were committed to resuming it.

“No. No cancellations,” he insisted.

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