Government to Rescue 20 Indonesian Victims of Human Trafficking
- U-Report
VIVA – The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to evacuate 20 Indonesian migrant workers from Myanmar who are suspected as human trafficking victims (TPPO), according to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
"We (government) are trying to bring and evacuate them out," President Widodo stated during a press conference at Sarinah, Jakarta, on Thursday.
The President admitted that the 20 Indonesians have fraud because they were not placed in the promised job, "This is a fraud, they were taken to a place they did not want to be," he said.
Presiden Jokowi.
- Biro Pers Sekretariat Presiden.
Based on the chronology, on May 2, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) reported recruiters with the initials A and P who had placed at least 20 Indonesian migrant workers suspected of being victims of TPPO in Myanmar to the Criminal Investigation Police.
The two recruiters illegally placed Indonesian workers by offering them jobs as computer operators at a stock exchange company in Thailand.
The workers were lured with a large salary, around IDR 8 million-IDR 10 million per month, as well as free housing and food facilities.
Then, the recruiters paid for the victims' departure accommodations such as passports, plane tickets, and other necessities on loan terms and repaid the loans by deducting salaries after the migrant workers worked and received salaries.
Dozens of Indonesian migrant workers were sent to Myanmar by water from Bangkok, Thailand. But when they arrived at the workplace, they were held captive by the company and guarded by armed and military-clad men who confiscated the victims' cell phones.
They forcibly employed the victims to commit online fraud for 17 hours of work per day, and treated the victims harshly and with acts of physical and psychological violence, even beatings and electrocution.
