Indonesia Discusses Immediate Action To Combat Human Trafficking

JAKARTA, May 30 (Bernama) -- Indonesian president Joko Widodo has urged law enforcement and related agencies to step up and take immediate action to prevent and stop human trafficking crimes.

He emphasised this while chairing a meeting to prevent the crime of human trafficking, at Istana Merdeka today.

After the meeting, Mahfud MD, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Peace, stated that Joko Widodo directed the current task group to be reorganised.

"This immediate step in a month reflects the seriousness of the government, police, army, and other agencies to act quickly to deal with this crime," he added.

According to the Indonesian National Labour Placement and Protection Agency (BP2MI), human trafficking crime has claimed 1,900 lives and resulted in 55 bodies being sent to the province of East Nusa Tenggara since January.

Mahfud said Indonesia as ASEAN 2023 Chairman has been asked by neighbouring countries to be more proactive in dealing with crime, especially in the region.

While eradication attempts are sometimes slowed down by bureaucratic obstacles, these skillfully conducted international crimes have impacted lives in their home countries.

In order to prevent criminals from being shielded, Joko Widodo reportedly instructed the Inspector General of Police to institute stern measures.

According to Benny Rhamdani, the chairman of BP2MI, there are 4.3 million unregistered Indonesian employees overseas who are thought to be under the control of syndicates.

In 2017, the World Bank reported nine million Indonesians employed overseas, whereas BP2MI  counted only 4.7 million.

It has also dealt with 94,000 workers deported from West Asian and Asian countries since 2020, with 90 per cent of them suspected to be managed by syndicates.

-- BERNAMA