Indonesia, one of the world's largest supplier of household service workers (popularly known as DH or domestic helpers), is planning to stop sending its women to work abroad as maids.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo made this announcement last Friday after his visit to Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.
He said:
"I have given (the) Manpower Minister a target to come up with a clear roadmap on when we can stop sending female domestic workers. We should have pride and dignity,"
"There are only three countries in the world supplying domestic workers, two are in Asia and one in Africa. One of those in Asia is Indonesia. This is a matter of dignity. It was really shameful (speaking about this) during our bilateral with Malaysia,"
Widodo did not mention the Philippines, though the country has been known worldwide as one of the top suppliers of domestic workers in Asia and in the Middle East.
He added that there are around 2.3 million Indonesians working abroad, mostly in Malaysia.
Aside from Indonesia and the Philippines, other countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia and Sri Lanka are also considered as major suppliers of HSWs.
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