JAKARTA - SEVERAL labour placement agencies in Indonesia have defied a government ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia.

Indonesia decided on Thursday to temporarily suspend sending domestic helpers to Malaysia amid outrage over the abuse of its nationals by their employers.

Mr Yunus Yamani, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Labour Exporters, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the ban had put agencies in a difficult position.

'We have thousands of workers ready to be sent to Malaysia, with their passports, visas and even tickets to fly,' he said.

'I demand the government give us a solution to this issue. We can't just immediately stop the process.'

He refused to name the companies that are still sending domestic workers to Malaysia, but Mr Rusdi Basalamah, vice-chairman of the Migrant Worker Service Company Association (Apjati), said on Friday: 'Today, there are 60 to 100 workers flying to Malaysia, and how can you stop them if they have signed working agreements?'

He added he has yet to receive an official letter from the ministry about the ban and therefore could not issue an order to association members to stop sending workers to Malaysia.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said on Thursday that he would be issuing an official letter to placement agencies and related ministries.

However, Mr Yunus said that by Friday, he had not received any official correspondence from the government. 'It was just a statement reported by the media,' he said. 'We did not receive any letter that orders us to stop sending workers.'

Read the full story in today's edition of The Sunday Times.