Indonesia Pushes Protection of Migrant Workers and Combating Human Trafficking

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Director general of immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Silmy Karim, on Wednesday called for the protection of migrant workers against human trafficking.

He made the request at the 27th meeting of ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (DGICM) in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

"Indonesia, with abundant human resource potential, is an easy target for human trafficking syndicates in ASEAN, where more than 85 percent of victims are smuggled into, from, and within the region," he said according to a press release.

Karim also said, The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo has specifically instructed the law enforcement apparatus to prevent and eradicate transnational crimes such as human trafficking from Indonesia abroad. 

“In this case, the Directorate General of Immigration is undertaking efforts in preventing and suppressing human smuggling through regional and international cooperation,” he said. 

On the other hand, Karim expressed hope that the DGICM would contribute to addressing the problems in ASEAN, especially human trafficking.

"We hope that the DGICM, especially the ASEAN Forum Head of Special Unit on People Smuggling, will help in resolving the issues in the area of ASEAN, the problem of human trafficking," said Karim.

During the period 2020-2023, there were 2434 online scam cases dealt with by RI Representatives in Southeast Asia, including 1,233 in Cambodia, 205 in Myanmar, 469 in the Philippines, 276 in Laos, 187 in Thailand, 34 in Vietnam and 30 in Malaysia.

The figure is rising sharply compared to the previous year. In 2021, there were 116 cases from Cambodia, and 77 cases in Myanmar. Cambodia is the country with the most cases in Southeast Asia, with the number of cases increasing to eightfold.

In addition to the fairly high online scam-related cases, there is a new mode of human trafficking cases. A new mode of human trafficking cases involving WNIs is online scamming, such as investments, love scam, money laundering, and so on. 

The recruited victims were then tied up by promises of hard work in the neighbouring country, but ended up in the chain of exploitation.

The forms of employment exploitation experienced include long hours of work, document detention, excessive fines, and very limited movement as well as communication restrictions, up to threats or acts of violence by the company against the WNIs.

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