Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today gave the go-ahead for Indonesia to sue Malaysian employers who have allegedly cheated Indonesian workers out of their pay.

"Let them take whatever action they wish," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Abdullah was responding to a question about Indonesia's plan to engage Malaysian lawyers to prepare lawsuits against companies that fail to pay their Indonesian workers.

Indonesian Manpower Minister Fahmi Idris said the move was meant to ensure that Indonesian workers - either legal or illegal - are paid their salaries before they return to Indonesia following a planned crackdown on immigrant labor in Malaysia.

"Indonesia has taken this step (to employ lawyers) and it is not aimed to oppose anyone but to ensure the law is respected," said Idris, who is on a one-day visit to Malaysia.

Malaysia last week extended indefinitely a conditional amnesty for illegal immigrants after Indonesia requested a delay in mass deportations in the aftermath of the Dec 26 tsunami disaster.

Many of the Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia are from Aceh province, the area worst hit by the tsunami which has left more than 295,000 people missing or dead around the Indian Ocean.

Nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants - mostly Indonesians - took the opportunity to leave without facing any penalty during the three-month amnesty which expired Jan 31, leaving at least the same number behind according to official estimates.

Unpaying employers

Kuala Lumpur has vowed to continue its crackdown on illegal immigrants but has softened its approach.

Illegal workers would be fingerprinted and given a week to leave the country with the opportunity to return legally.

Failing this, they would face imprisonment or whipping and be barred from ever re-entering the country, officials said.

Idris said Monday in Jakarta that many Indonesians in Malaysia could not take up the amnesty offer because they have not been paid by their employers.

A recent case involved some 90 Indonesian workers who were owed a total of nearly 40,000 dollars in wages by a construction firm.

He said the company would be among those brought to court and Jakarta has requested protection for the 90 workers in the meantime.

Abdullah said it was not clear if the issue of unpaid workers would be raised when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visits Malaysia on Feb 14.

"Maybe, before he comes, the issue could be resolved," he said.