Malaysia has lashed out at claims from a top UN official that Indonesian maids working here are vulnerable and suffer serious abuse such as beatings and rapes.

Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho labelled the statements by the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, as irresponsible, and said he had not received any reports of mistreatment.

"If there is such a claim, the UN must support it with evidence. Where is the evidence? Where did they get the information from?" Tan was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times .

"We would be grateful if the UN official could furnish us with evidence if there is any," he said.

"Certainly we would investigate and take necessary action if such a thing was taking place. We are not cruel people," he added.

Chain of vulnerability

Speaking after a fact-finding trip in Indonesia, Bustamente Wednesday criticised a bilateral pact aimed at boosting the rights of Indonesian domestic workers, saying it allowed employers to keep the maids' passports.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year to improve working and wage conditions.

"By doing that they produce a chain of vulnerability for the migrants and this vulnerability goes together very often with serious violations of human rights, such as women that are raped, such as women that are beaten," he said.

Bustamante cited reports of abuse from Indonesian women who had returned home, including extremely long work hours, irregular payment and psychological, physical and sexual abuse.

Isolated cases

Tan admitted there was some abuse, including a high-profile case before Malaysia's courts where a maid was beaten and branded with a hot iron, but said the incidents were isolated.

"Bustamente cannot issue a general statement based on one or two isolated cases," he said, adding that Indonesian workers had a good life in Malaysia.

But Malaysian migrant rights group Tenaganita accused Tan of being "in a state of denial" over the treatment of Indonesian maids.

"Tenaganita has been receiving three cases a week of domestic workers particularly from Indonesia and Cambodia," the group's director Irene Fernandez said in a statement.

Complaints from maids about physical abuse include rape, and the use of electric shocks, as well as psychological abuse, she said.

"The forms of violence are getting worse, with employers believing that they can get away with it as there are no clear laws to protect domestic workers," she said.

Malaysia depends heavily on foreign maids, including more than 300,000 from Indonesia, but they enjoy little protection under labour laws.