Jakarta – Labor rights activists urged the government to be more proactive in protecting Indonesian migrant workers that have fallen victim to abuse.

Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), Rekson Silaban, said the government had never actively raised its voice at international summits on migrant workers.

"Indonesia mostly sends its delegate, who does not have the authority to speak up at such summits," he said Friday. "Consequently, the country's migrant workers are not adequately represented."

Rekson said the government had never taken measures against migrant worker agencies charging exorbitant service fees.

"They are often charged between Rp 10 million (US$1,045) and Rp 20 million for services provided. As a result, many employers do not pay the workers in the first six months of their occupations because they have to pay the agent back," he said.

Many Indonesian migrant workers have been violently abused by their employers since Indonesia began sending workers overseas in the 1980s.

Muntik binti Bani, for example, was an Indonesian worker in Malaysia who died last Monday, allegedly due to violent abuse by her employers. Her body was returned to her hometown in Jember, East Java, on Saturday. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set to visit Malaysia in the near future to discuss several issues, including migrant workers.

Anis Hamidah, executive director of Migrant Care, said Indonesia had made very little improvement in its policies on migrant workers.

"Although the government has made efforts to negotiate holidays and minimum wages, there has been no improvement in the condition of migrant workers as yet," she said. "Our bargaining power is very weak. Malaysia knows that Indonesia cannot provide employment for its low-skilled citizens."

Anis said with no job opportunities at home, domestic workers were forced to seek employment abroad. She also said the Foreign Ministry did not provide protection for migrant workers in trouble abroad.

Hendardi, chairman of Setara, a human rights NGO, recently said the government's continuous delay to ratify the 1990 UN Migrant Workers Convention, in which Indonesia is a signatory, had worsened the condition of migrant workers.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said Friday that he would work toward the ratification of the UN convention within five years of his tenure. It will be up to the House of Representatives to ratify the convention. (nia)