Mistreatment and abuse have led Indonesian migrant workers to resent the Malaysian police hence challenging them openly, said a Jakarta-based lobby group today.

The Consortium for the Defence of Indonesian Migrant Workers (Kopbumi) said most of the workers deported complained of mistreatment.

In an e-mail communique to malaysiakini , Kopbumi executive secretary Wahyu Susila said there have also been claims that police here confiscate the workers' money before shipping them home.

Kopbumi also accused the police of being repressive towards Indonesian workers here and argued that such high-handed actions were the catalysts behind the recent violence.

"The police conduct raids at will and detain Indonesian workers wantonly. They also confiscate the belongings of these workers.

"It is the accumulation of these sufferings that had caused the Indonesian workers to resent the police and had them openly fighting the police," said Wahyu.

The lobby group also proposed that the Malaysian government set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate these allegations.

Wahyu said the Malaysian government must not forget that much of the development enjoyed by the country was due to the hard labour of Indonesian workers.

Riot

Indonesian workers incurred the government's wrath following a Jan 17 riot at a textile factory in Negeri Sembilan where police vehicles were overturned and stones were thrown at officers.

The 400-odd workers rioted when police tried to detain 16 of their colleagues during an anti-narcotics operation.

A total of 125 Indonesian workers were arrested in connection with the riot. Ninety-one were deported yesterday and this morning while the rest are expected to be shipped home soon.

Three days later, about 70 Indonesians armed with machetes went on a rampage, destroying food stalls operated by other foreign workers in Cyberjaya.

Last month, 2,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Indonesians, torched a section of a detention centre in Johor to escape deportation.

Following the latest incidents, the government has decided to temporarily suspend the fresh employment of Indonesians.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the government would repatriate illegal foreign workers within 24 hours of their capture, instead of putting them in detention camps for long periods.

Earlier Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would review recruitment of foreign workers and give priority to those from countries other than Indonesia.

Malaysia is home to some 700,000 foreign workers, mainly from Indonesia, as well as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

Yesterday, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hadi Wajarabi said his country has taken steps to tighten the screening process for those who wanted to work here.

The workers will be made to attend a course on the dos and don'ts in Malaysia before they are let through, he added.

The embassy's officials will also visit factories and construction sites with more than 50 Indonesian workers to tell them about the importance of abiding by local laws.

Low esteem

Meanwhile, Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea was quoted as saying that he hoped Malaysia would not send back thousands of its workers except for the troublemakers.

"I'm confident Malaysia still needs Indonesian workers. I don't think Malaysia will abandon us," he said, adding that the Indonesian government will provide assistance to any Indonesian worker facing legal action in Malaysia.

The influential Jakarta Post daily in its editorial today said the recent riots have brought to light the fact that Indonesia is suffering from low esteem among its neighbours.

"It seems that there can be only one answer to Mahathir's threat to blacklist Indonesian workers in the future, that is to look for markets other than Malaysia," said the editorial.

It added that it will be better if the Indonesian government can improve conditions at home "so that Indonesians will no longer have to depend on the generosity of others".