Little can be done to stop Indonesian housemaids from breaching restrictions on how they enter Saudi Arabia from Bahrain, a top official has warned.

A presidential taskforce has been set up to try and combat the problem following cases of violence and maltreatment.

But despite restrictions from Jakarta on sending domestic workers to Saudi from Jordan, Kuwait and Syria, an Indonesian Embassy official said diplomats regularly come across complaints of its nationals being illegally employed in those countries.

"We receive several reports regarding these cases which could be intentional or unintentional," he said.

"There could be a Saudi national employed in Bahrain who through legal channels recruited an Indonesian maid and later left the kingdom."

The official said in some cases embassy officials receive calls from Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, who say they were promised jobs in Bahraini households by manpower agents.

"This is a case of human trafficking and we at the embassy in Bahrain are in constant touch with our counterparts in Riyadh to track down these sponsors," he said.

"We also contact our presidential task force that is now calling for a blanket moratorium on sending Indonesian domestic workers to Middle East countries."

Taskforce spokesman Humphrey Djemat earlier called for increased restrictions on domestic workers to Jordan and Saudi Arabia following a trip to Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Egypt, citing cases of violence and maltreatment.

He revealed the number of Indonesians in Bahrain had risen from 9,000 last year to 12,395 and immigration authorities were often unable to prevent Indonesian workers from attempting to enter Saudi Arabia as their sponsors had met legal requirements.

Cases

The official said the biggest problem facing the embassy was the increasing number of runaway cases.

"At present, we have between 25 and 30 Indonesian migrant workers with problems who are now sheltering at the embassy in Manama," he said.

The official said most of the cases were now in the courts and related to unpaid wages or runaway.

"Eighty to 90 per cent of our nationals working here are domestic help.

"We do face problems when they run away from their Bahraini sponsor and some of them are forced into prostitution."

The official revealed diplomats were investigating a case of a domestic worker kidnapped from her sponsor's house by a group of Asian men.

He urged housemaids not to trust strangers and contact the embassy first if they faced any problems.

"I would also like to clear all these misinformation spread among our nationals that the embassy would hit them, treat them badly or even ask money to provide labour services," added the official.

Meanwhile, the Labour Ministry confirmed it was investigating two cases in which domestic workers were allegedly kidnapped by Asian men or convinced to run away from their Bahraini employers.

An official said they were following up the cases with authorities to ensure protection of domestic workers.

"We have strong laws in place that come down heavily on those who violate them," he said.

"The concerned department is following up the case to solve it in a timely manner and ensure the victim gets justice.

"But there is also the increasing problem of workers fleeing from their sponsors and later being labelled as runaway after their employer files a report at the police station."

The ministry has registered close to 700 runaway domestic workers since the beginning of the year.

Indonesians in distress are urged to call the embassy hotline on 39737478 or 39387510.