Dessy Sagita – Migrant worker advocates said on Friday that the government must be a stronger presence on the international stage if it wants to adequately protect Indonesia's overseas workers.

Lita Anggraini, chairwoman of the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), said the government's current negotiation skills with other countries put workers in danger when they are overseas. "As long as our government is spineless, nothing will change," Lita said.

Jamaluddin, advocacy coordinator of the Indonesian Migrant Workers' Union (SBMI), added that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must become more forceful in diplomatic situations to earn Indonesia respect on the international level.

"Having a [memorandum of understanding] is far from enough to protect our workers," he said. "Considering that Indonesia's diplomatic skills are still very weak, there should be stronger bilateral agreements."

He pointed to recent abuse cases of Indonesians in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia as examples of weak relations endangering workers.

But Bery Komarulzaman, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, countered that the example was unfair and had nothing to do with Indonesia's international relations.

"If you compare the number of abuse cases with the number of success stories of those who work in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, you'll see that the successful situations outnumber the abuse cases," he said.

He added that the government was in the process of selecting countries that would be priority destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

"We have to consider whether or not they have good worker protection laws and decent salaries. If they don't have such laws, we must arrange a memorandum of understanding first," Bery said.

He said Hong Kong and Taiwan were considered the safest destination for migrant workers.