Human Rights Watch has welcomed the temporary ban on Cambodian domestic workers out of concerns over abuse, but called for an overhaul of the laws and more stringent monitoring to protect migrant workers.

Indonesian domestic helpers maids 2 Lauding the decision by Phnom Penh to impose a moratorium on sending domestic workers to Malaysia, the group’s women’s rights research fellow Jyotsna Poudyal said a long-term solution to the problem needs to be formulated in consultation with the interested parties.

Human Rights Watch recently sounded the alarm about Cambodian training centres for prospective maids, an industry they say is plagued by debt bondage, forced confinement and use of underage workers.

There had also been numerous complaints of sexual abuse, overwork and exploitation among an estimated 50,000 Cambodian women employed as domestic helpers.

siti hajar indonesian tortured abused maid 190609 "(Cambodian Prime Minister) Hun Sen is finally demonstrating concern about the plight of Cambodian migrant domestic workers, but a ban is only a temporary measure,"  Poudyal was quoted by AFP as saying today.

"The government should introduce major reforms, in consultation with civil society, to improve regulation and monitoring of labour recruitment in Cambodia so that women can migrate voluntarily and safely," she added.

An order was signed by Hun Sen following "some negative information" about the working environment of Cambodian maids in Malaysia, Oum Mean, secretary of state at the ministry of labour, said.

"The government has issued a circular... to temporarily suspend sending maids to Malaysia," he said, without specifying how long the ban would last.

Oum Mean said the order was signed by Hun Sen on October 15 and the government had informed recruitment agencies and state institutions about the suspension.

But Oum did not specify which conditions Malaysia would have to meet to get the ban overturned.

Rights group Tenaganita, which has rescued more than 60 Cambodian maids so far this year, said it was "elated" by the ban.

"We call on all countries in the region to take heed that migrants are not for sale and there can be no compromise on the protection of their rights," the workers’ advocacy group said in a statement.

Reports of abuse in Malaysia have frequently surfaced in recent years and led Indonesia to stop sending domestic helpers to the country for two years in 2009, prompting a rise in demand for Cambodian workers.