Jakarta – Members of advocacy groups focused on workers and women rights such as Migrant Care and Kapal Perempuan (Women's ship) demanded the government to take firm action to protect Indonesian migrant workers during International Migrants Day on Tuesday.

The government failed to protect workers employed overseas as there had been several cases of workers that fell victim to rape and abuse, Migrant Care executive director Anas Hidayat said during a rally at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle in Central Jakarta.

Recently, Malaysia has been heavily criticized by numerous advocacy groups for the reported rape of an Indonesian migrant worker identified as SM from Batang, Central Java, by three police officers at their office in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, on Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, another worker hailing from Aceh was reportedly raped by her employer at the latter's residence in Negeri Sembilan on Nov. 5.

According to Anas, Malaysia has become a killing field for around 500 workers annually and a haven for rapists because those who allegedly raped Indonesian women migrant workers were not severely punishment. "Our migrant workers have also been beheaded or executed by firing squads in the destination countries," she said as quoted by tempo.co.

As the world's fourth most populous country, Indonesia has become one of the biggest migrant-sending countries in Asia after Sri Lanka and the Philippines, sending 4 million workers to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Taiwan. (han)