Putri Prameshwari – The number of Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia could spiral out of control after a long-awaited agreement on workers' protection was indefinitely delayed again, activists warned on Tuesday.

The delay was announced just a day after Malaysia said a deal would be signed this month. Malaysian Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam said the deal had been delayed because the two countries had yet to agree to terms.

"It will not be signed this month as expected because both sides have outstanding issues yet to be resolved," he said. "We are hoping for an agreement soon but we are not sure when this will be."

One day earlier, the same minister said both countries were expected to sign an agreement in the next five weeks.

Anis Hidayah, director of Indonesian labor watchdog Migrant Care, said the failure to reach a deal meant more Indonesian workers would enter Malaysia under the guise of being tourists. "There will be massive illegal placements in Malaysia," Anis said.

A flood of complaints about alleged mistreatment of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia has strained relations between the countries and prompted Jakarta to freeze sending maids in June until a deal giving them better protection was signed.

Anis said the delay automatically extended the moratorium but added that it had not stopped "backdoor" deals by labor agencies. She said these illegal workers had no protection.

"Therefore, it could lead to more Indonesian maids being tortured, and we have no legal means to react to that," she said.

Nisma Abdullah, from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, said the delay made it imperative for Indonesia to tightly monitor the recruitment of workers. "The government must also watch out for workers who enter Malaysia as tourists," she said.

Labor activist Dita Indah Sari said the delay showed how weak Indonesian diplomacy was. Points of agreement so far were that workers were entitled to one day off a week and had the right to hold on to their personal documents, including passports.

"However, the crucial issues such as salary and the transparency of work contracts are yet to be settled," she said, adding that such issues were potential sources of abuse.

The government, however, said it had done its best. Rosstiawati, director of workers' placement abroad at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said it was the Malaysians who were stalling.

"We have invited them twice to hold discussions with the joint working group on the agreement," she said. "But for God knows what reason, they have not responded."

Subramaniam said the Malaysian government would be looking to recruit more maids from southern Thailand and the Philippines, countries that have sizeable numbers of Muslims.

"Those countries have always been a source of maids for us but now we will intensify efforts to recruit more to meet any shortage," he said.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labor and depends heavily on domestic workers, 90 percent of whom, according to Dita, are Indonesians.

An average of 50 maid abuse cases are reported annually out of the 300,000 Indonesian maids working in the country, according to Malaysian officials. But Indonesia says up to 1,000 maids face violence and mistreatment every year.

With job opportunities falling in big cities across Indonesia, more undereducated people are turning to Malaysia, the closest and most easily accessible neighbor, for work.