ASEAN to Focus on Human Trafficking

Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia is the biggest victim of human trafficking syndicates. Indonesia proposed that the 42nd ASEAN Summit draw up a cooperation document on tackling the trafficking.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

President Joko Widodo gives a press statement regarding the implementation of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, Monday (8/5/2023). The President said that Indonesia would bring up the eradication of human trafficking and the Myanmar case to be discussed at the 42nd ASEAN Summit.

WEST MANGGARAI, KOMPAS – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as chair of ASEAN for 2023 pushed for the 42nd ASEAN Summit, held from 9-11 May, to draw up a cooperation document on tackling people trafficking. However, in order for it to be implemented effectively, several advocacy groups have urged the government to follow it up with detailed and concrete technical guidelines.

In a press statement in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday (8/5/2023), President Jokowi said that one of the themes Indonesia put forward at the 42nd ASEAN Summit was eradicating human trafficking, especially through online scams. This is important because the victims are the people of ASEAN, with the majority being Indonesian citizens.

As an example, Jokowi explained that the Indonesian government recently rescued 20 Indonesian citizens who were victims of human trafficking from Myanmar, which was not easy to do due to Myanmar’s conflict. On 5 May, Filipino authorities and representatives from other countries, including Indonesia, also managed to rescue 1,048 people from 10 countries, 143 of whom were Indonesian nationals. The Indonesian embassies in Manila, Bangkok and Yangon have been involved in two evacuations.

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“I stress that the crime of human trafficking must be completely eradicated, from upstream to downstream. I repeat, it must be completely eradicated. So, at the summit, a cooperation document will be drawn up to tackle trafficking in persons due to misuse of technology,” said Jokowi, who was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and State Secretary Pratikno.

Kompas also noted that the Indonesian Embassy in Hanoi rescued 30 Indonesians from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, in April. The modus operandi in Vietnam was the same as in Cambodia, in which prospective migrant workers were offered work in the customer service industry. After departing from Indonesia, they were told they had to undergo job training in Cambodia or Vietnam.

In Cambodia and Vietnam, these people were then forced to scam people in Indonesia under the guise of telemarketing. Some were forced to work in gambling establishments. One of the traffickers in Cambodia was arrested by the National Police on 27 April.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Six suspects in the crime of human trafficking at the West Nusa Tenggara Regional Police Office in Mataram, Thursday (30/3/2023). The suspects committed the crime with eight female victims from the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa.

This series of cases has pushed Indonesia, through its ASEAN leadership this year, to propose drawing up a document related to the eradication of people trafficking. The final version of this document is being finalized by senior officials of ASEAN member countries.

The ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) meeting officially opened the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo on Monday (8/5). The results of the discussions will be brought to the foreign ministerial level meeting, which will be held on Tuesday (9/5).

Technical guide

Several Indonesian migrant worker advocacy organizations held a conference in Labuan Bajo on Monday. They called on the government to follow up on the cooperation document on tackling people trafficking, which will be adopted at the 42nd ASEAN Summit.

Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union (SBMI) chairman Hariyanto Suwarno said ASEAN needed to strengthen the common view on human trafficking. Without a common view, it would be difficult to expect joint efforts to be made to eradicate trafficking in persons. Moreover, ASEAN must also evaluate the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP). Though it was ratified in 2015, the convention has not been able to greatly limit trafficking in Southeast Asia. The decline in cases recorded in 2020-2022 was only due to restricted mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately, this trafficking still continues to occur in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia being one of the biggest victims.

In the ACTIP, trafficking in persons is referred to as a series of recruitment, sending, transferring, holding and receiving people who are threatened or forced to agree to migrate and work ASEAN does not have a common definition of smuggling.

According to Hariyanto, there have been many international documents on people. Some have been ratified or at least signed by Indonesia. Unfortunately, this trafficking still continues to occur in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia being one of the biggest victims.

KOMPAS/MAHDI MUHAMMAD

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (center), Friday (5/5/2023), gave a statement to the media regarding a number of issues such as human trafficking (TPPO) involving Indonesian citizens, evacuation of Indonesian citizens in Sudan to preparations ahead of the ASEAN Summit -42 in Labuan Bajo, NTT.

Thus, Indonesia must encourage its partners in ASEAN to do more than just adopt a new document on eradicating people trafficking. ASEAN must, among other methods, immediately detail technical guidelines on eradicating trafficking in persons across countries.

Trafficking in persons and forced labor often occurs in the maritime sector. Senior researcher for the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, Jeremia Humolong Prasetya, said workers on transnational fishing ships were among the most vulnerable to exploitation. In fact, there was a risk of exploitation and trafficking in almost all stages of the recruitment process of migrant workers to be placed on cross-country fishing vessels.

Jeremia encouraged ASEAN to also adopt the Declaration on the Protection of Transnational Fishermen. Like Hariyanto, Jeremia stressed that concrete steps must not stop at the adoption stage. It was necessary to prepare guidelines to ensure the effective implementation of the declaration in the region.

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Meanwhile, Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said it was necessary to mainstream the issue of protection of migrant workers as they contribute greatly to Southeast Asia’s economic performance. "There is no quality and inclusive economic growth in ASEAN without the recognition and protection of the rights of migrant workers," he said.

Migrant Workers' Union (Sebumi) chairwoman Yatini Sulistyowati said a number of ASEAN members rely on remittances from migrant workers as one of their economic drivers. In Indonesia in 2022, migrant workers earned a total of Rp 159 trillion (US$10.77 billion). This is almost equivalent to government revenue from the oil and gas sector.

The ASEAN Charter clearly mandates that the organization is people-oriented. International relations expert Dinna Prapto Raharja emphasized that specialization was needed on the issue of ASEAN residents, especially migrant workers. This is necessary to accelerate the achievement of an ASEAN society that is just, dignified and has a high quality of life.

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.