"Please be firm with agents who offer job vacancies for PMIs with fraud indications," he said in a statement here on Thursday.
Soesatyo also asked the Ministry of Manpower and BP2MI to inform the public regarding the names of agents who are sending migrant workers legally. The agency and the ministry must also educate the public about the correct procedures for migrant worker departures abroad.
"The Ministry of Manpower, together with BP2MI and the local government, continues to provide socialization and education regarding procedures for legally departing PMI to foreign countries to the public, especially to PMI candidates," he added.
In addition, he asked the Ministry of Manpower to cooperate with the Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on the prevention and placement of non-procedural migrant workers at immigration checkpoints.
"Selective supervision must also be carried out at the passport and paperwork issuance or other administrative requirements," he said.
The Manpower Ministry must coordinate with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and the police to improve the supervision of cyber content that has the potential to lead to human trafficking, he added.
"They can monitor content on social media or websites with indications of job vacancy fraud which could lead to human trafficking," he suggested.
Lastly, Soesatyo asked the central and regional governments to coordinate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on working on migrant workers' protection issues, such as Migrant CARE, to quickly respond, report, and follow up on reports of Indonesian citizens working in various countries.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, said that he had submitted the names of suspected human trafficking criminal act (TPPO) perpetrators to the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) of the National Police so they could be arrested promptly.
"We have handed over the names to Bareskrim. We hope they can be arrested immediately," he added.
The minister said that he will take firm action against TPPO syndicates by arresting suspected perpetrators.
After the police complete the arrests, ministry officials will go to some areas and target several agencies that are suspected of helping in the crime.
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Translator: Melalusa Susthira K, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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