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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to take action to defend and protect hundreds of Indonesians facing death sentences in Malaysia.

Yudhoyono said the government had tried its best to provide legal assistance and advocacy to Indonesians living abroad.

“I personally have been taking care of this matter to ensure fairness. During bilateral meetings [between Indonesia and Malaysia], the Malaysian authorities updated me on each of the legal cases and the best solutions that could fulfill Indonesia’s expectation,” Yudhoyono told a plenary Cabinet meeting as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

During the meeting, Yudhoyono instructed Marty to update the number of Indonesians on death row in the neighboring country.

A report from non-governmental organization Sabang-Merauke Circle, says 345 Indonesian migrant workers are facing the death sentence in Malaysia.

Three NGOs, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Migrant Care and NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid), have also pressed Yudhoyono to ensure human rights for the Indonesian citizens.

Yudhoyono stressed that regardless of efforts to protect Indonesians from the death penalty, the country had to respect the legal system and policies in place in Malaysia.

Separately, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie from Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party said that in the midst of the diplomatic effort to save Indonesians from the death penalty there, the country had to respect the Malaysian legal system and refrain from interfering.

“If their legal system stipulates the death penalty, can we interfere? Please respect other country’s legal systems,” Marzuki told reporters Monday.

Marzuki urged Indonesia to look at the basis used by the Malaysian authorities in seeking capital punishment.

“Some are involved in drug trafficking. They know that drug trafficking is punishable by the death penalty [in Malaysia], so, they should not have attempted to bring drugs in the first place,” he said.

One of Marzuki’s deputies, Pramono Anung from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), says that whatever case the Indonesians abroad are involved in, the government should have taken more initiative to protect them, but so far such a commitment was not visible.

“The foreign minister should have been more active in giving assistance knowing his fellow countrymen are in trouble abroad,” he said.

Pramono also urged the Foreign Ministry to officially issue a diplomatic note to the Malaysian government to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Another deputy speaker, Golkar Party’s Priyo Budi Santoso, said the government had to show commitment to saving the lives of Indonesians abroad for the sake of national pride and dignity.

“I am warning the government to save every single ounce of dignity that we still have,” Priyo said.

He said the government’s commitment toward the safety of its own people abroad had been disappointing. “Let’s take the US as a comparison. The US government will utilize its highest authority to save even one life of its countrymen,” he said.

“So, the government must not be slow in dealing with this matter,” he added.