Indonesian maids now paid to take jobs abroad, activists say

Kuala Lumpur

PEOPLE smugglers are increasingly paying rural Indonesians cash to persuade them to work abroad as maids, unlike in the past when women had to pay exorbitant fees to secure the jobs, campaigners said.

The change has been driven in part by demand for Indonesian domestic helpers. The payments are also a way of persuading women's families, who may be reluctant to let them go after a series of high-profile Indonesian maid abuse cases abroad.

Indonesia is a major source of domestic workers for places such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Middle East. Most women wanting the overseas jobs used to have to pay hundreds of…