Stop Human Trafficking

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

A number of migrant workers prepare to leave the immigration waiting room at Batam Center Harbor, Batam City, Riau Islands, Tuesday (24/3/2020). As many as 81 Indonesian migrant workers were deported from Johor Bahru after the Malaysian government imposed a policy of closing access.

The death toll in the illegal sending of Indonesian workers to Malaysia continues to increase. The solution to this problem must be comprehensive.

Kompas daily reported on Monday (24/1/2022) that at least 37 prospective Indonesian migrant workers died from December 2021 to January 2022 in five ship accidents in the Malacca Strait. They were seeking work to Malaysia by sea using the services of syndicates for the illegal sending of migrant workers.

Also read:

Stories of Migrant Workers in Neighboring Countries

The Quiet Road in Search for ‘Cuan’ in Other Countries

The prospective migrant workers were among those who fall victim from time to time. What is worrying is that the government is aware of the existence of human trafficking syndicates that have received assistance from unscrupulous officials. The routes commonly used to deploy them are also known. The legal regulations are also quite numerous, we have Law No. 18/2017 on the protection of migrant workers.

The House of Representatives at the center and at the regional level also seems to less properly function in supervising the government in carrying out its protective duties.

Nevertheless, efforts to stop such illegal practices do not seem sincere, as can be seen from the repeated incidents of human trafficking to neighboring countries. The House of Representatives at the center and at the regional level also seems to less properly function in supervising the government in carrying out its protective duties.

The main reason why our workers are desperate to leave illegally is to find a job with a better income than what can be obtained domestically. Stories from successful migrant workers abroad add to their motivation to go to find work abroad, sometimes without being aware that the methods they take are illegal.

KBRI KUALA LUMPUR

Former Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia attend training at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in April 2018, witnessed by Ambassador Rusdi Kirana (wearing a suit, fourth from left). The training is part of the Aku Mau Sukses program which is given to migrant workers who no longer want to work in Malaysia and want to work in their hometown.

Kompas has widely reported how prospective low-skilled migrant workers were recruited from villages. The family and village officials helped facilitate the departure of these prospective workers. Problems began to occur when there were prospective workers whose data was falsified. Problems continued during departure until they were received at the destination through unofficial channels. In the workplace, usually their travel documents are withheld by employers, thereby putting them in a vulnerable position.

The agriculture and fisheries sector should be able to answer the need for employment if agriculture and fisheries are defined as rural agribusiness.

Ideally, the solution to this problem is to create quality jobs. The agriculture and fisheries sector should be able to answer the need for employment if agriculture and fisheries are defined as rural agribusiness.

Another way is to provide adequate skills for the prospective workers. To help curb the practice of the travel mafia, the government can increase the provision of banking credit and insurance that was once proposed to finance everything from training, document processing, travel, to guarantees while working.

Illegal migrant workers have the potential to become victims of internationally prohibited human trafficking. We want the government to be firm in eradicating those involved in the illegal sending of migrant workers, if necessary, by giving severe criminal penalties. Indonesia must be able to convince recipient countries to be on an equal footing, to need each other with a more binding agreement, not just a memorandum of understanding to protect our workers.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).