JAKARTA: Indonesia is considering plans to temporarily stop sending its domestic helpers to Malaysia due to the abuse and mistreatment they sometimes suffer in the neighbouring country, a report said Friday.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said the government would be forced to act unless the abuse stopped, amid a spate of recent cases that have shocked the country.

"We will likely stop it temporarily. We will have a meeting on June 23 with several related ministers to conduct a preliminary evaluation," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency.

In the latest case to make headlines, Indonesian maid Siti Hajar was badly scarred after allegedly being repeatedly tortured by her Malaysian female employer for three years.

The 33-year-old maid from West Java was beaten with a cane and doused with boiling water. Her employer was charged Thursday with causing grievous bodily harm and faces a 20-year jail term.

A Malaysian former flight attendant was sentenced in November to 18 years in jail for using an iron and scalding water to inflict horrific wounds on her Indonesian maid.

Malaysia has no laws governing conditions for domestic workers but the government has promised to draft legislation to protect them from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor conditions.

Suparno said the government would block the flow of domestic servants "until the Malaysian government gives us an assurance that it will protect Indonesian migrant workers there."

Malaysia is home to some 1.2 million documented Indonesian workers, as well as about 800,000 illegal Indonesian workers.

- AFP/yb