By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Foreign worker agencies in Indonesia and Malaysia on Thursday agreed to find ways to reduce costs in the recruitment of Indonesian workers for jobs in Malaysia in efforts to alleviate cost burdens for the workers and their employers.

The consensus was reached at a meeting held the Malaysian Embassy here after both parties deliberated on the cost of hiring Indonesian workers for jobs in Malaysia, which was found to exceed RM6,100 per Indonesian worker.

By Husna Yusop

PUTRAJAYA (Feb 22, 2010): The cabinet committee on foreign workers and illegal immigrants yesterday agreed to set up a "lab", headed by the Home Ministry, to come up with measures to better manage foreign workers.

The lab will look into the policies and procedures on the intake of foreign workers, the administration of foreign workers including the role of outsourcing companies and existing laws and regulations.

By IZATUN SHARI

KUALA LUMPUR: Effective end of March, it will be mandatory for new batch of foreign maids and employers to attend a half-day course to learn about their respective responsibilities.

The Malaysian Government had also made a counter proposal that the monthly Indonesian maids’ salary be determined by market forces following the Indonesian government’s proposal of RM800 minimum salary for the maids.

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: The government is considering allowing the 80,000-odd refugees in the country to work.

The Home Ministry and Wisma Putra are expected to sit together to look at the issue following calls from many sectors asking the government to allow the group to be work here while waiting to be resettled in third countries.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the matter was being considered due to the fact that the refugees’ stay in Malaysia was only temporary.