Nurfika Osman – Incidents of physical, sexual and psychological violence against Indonesian migrant workers abroad continue as the government abjectly fails at protecting its citizens overseas, activists said on Wednesday.

"The government is not serious in handling the case of migrant workers even though it keeps saying the workers are providing income for the country," Anis Hidayah director of the watchdog group Migrant Care, told the Jakarta Globe.

"The government lacks the political will to protect migrant workers and they need to establish a new protection mechanism for them," she said.

Last week, Migrant Care held a demonstration in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Central Jakarta to protest the recent shooting of three Indonesian workers by Malaysian Police. They were accused of trying to steal a car last month. All four later died, allegedly after suffering physical abuse.

The group condemned the fate of Fauziah, a female worker from Cibubur, West Java, who fell from the fifth floor of an apartment building. Autopsy results showed that she had been sexually abused.

"The Malaysian Police have not given any statement regarding their deaths," Anis said. "The Malaysian Embassy has not even offered its condolences."

Protesters held aloft a banner that read, "Malaysia is the killer of Indonesian Migrant Workers."

Anis said that violations against the workers' rights continued, such as not being given days off, including public holidays.

"And despite the very long hours of work, with little rest, workers frequently report that their employers withhold their salary, often for months on end, or even more frequently, pay them significantly less than what had been agreed a the time of employment," she said, adding that even the agreed salaries were usually much less than the minimum wage in Indonesia.

She also said that many female workers were sexually harassed or even raped by their employers. "Many workers who live with their employers do not have their own room to sleep in, or their room does not have a lock, or sometimes even a door," she said.

Masruchah, the deputy head of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), told the Globe that protection was crucial. "When we send our laborers abroad, their protection should come first, and it has become an obligation of the government," she said.

In June, Indonesia imposed a moratorium on sending workers to Malaysia after a string of high-profile cases in which workers were reportedly physically abused by their employers. The two governments are negotiating a revised memorandum of understanding to guarantee rights to Indonesian workers, such as a minimum wage, allowing them to retain their passports and one day off each week.

"We are still negotiating the minimum wage; we want 800 ringgit [$249] per month but Malaysia has not agreed," said Budi Hartawan, spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration.

Budi said the government was trying its best to protect their laborers overseas, as proven by efforts to revise the agreement. "We are waiting for the Malaysian working group to come here to negotiate," he said.