An increasing number of Indonesian domestic workers are illegally entering Saudi Arabia via Bahrain that has forced a task force to call for a blanket moratorium on sending its nationals to Middle East countries.

A spokesman from the presidentially-appointed task force, Humphrey Djemat, said in a Press statement yesterday that the recommendations came following his recent trip to Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Egypt.

He was quoted in the Jakarta Globe as saying that Indonesia has set restrictions on domestic workers to Jordan and Saudi Arabia after many reported cases of violence and maltreatment of their nationals.

Djemat said the number of Indonesians in Bahrain has risen from 9,000 last year to 12,395.

"This increase is, among other (reasons), because of the moratorium on sending Indonesian migrants to Saudi Arabia," he said.

He added another impact of the moratorium was that many Indonesian migrant workers were "attempting" to enter Saudi Arabia through Bahrain.

"The Bahraini immigration cannot prevent this as long as the sponsors of those Indonesian workers have met the requirements prevailing in Bahrain," he said.

Djemat said official figures show that about 3,000 Indonesians are employed in the kingdom.

"At present, there are 27 Indonesian migrant workers facing problems who are being sheltered at the embassy in Manama," he said.

"Most of their problems are related to unpaid wages or being mentally unprepared to work for others and therefore fleeing their employers' homes,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service