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Talks scheduled for Wednesday with Malaysia to review the bilateral agreement over Indonesian overseas workers have been delayed because Malaysian officials have internal matters to attend to, Indonesian officials have said.

Teguh Hendro Cahyono, the labor affairs attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said on Monday the delay was due to the Malaysian minister of home affairs, foreign affairs and the deputy prime minister needing more time to discuss issues related to the review.

“They said that they needed to discuss this matter internally within their government institutions and after that they would decide the date they were ready to talk with us,” Cahyono said.

The Indonesian government suspended some migrant workers from going to Malaysia in late June, hoping to push through a review of the memorandum of understanding signed in 2006.

Proposed amendments to the agreement include clauses requiring Malaysian employers to give Indonesian workers a day off each week, provision of minimum leave and salary increases and address political, educational and social rights issues.

“We will also insist that workers have the right to hold their passports, which are often held by their employers,” Cahyono said, adding that some two million Indonesians were currently working in Malaysia, although this included about 800,000 illegal migrants.

Separately, I Gusti Made Arke, the director general of labor placement at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said that the high-level meeting would be rescheduled to next week.

“The delay happened because the Malaysians have not come to a decision among their departments,” Arke said. “They said that they want a seven-day delay from the date we had agreed upon.”

News agency Agence France-Presse reported on Monday that Malaysian Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said the talks had been deferred “at Indonesia’s request,” due to logistical issues.

Subramaniam said his government would introduce a compulsory day off for maids — who often work seven-day weeks — and have their wages paid into bank accounts to prevent employers withholding salaries.

Malaysian officials have said only 50 maid abuse cases were reported each year on average.