"It presents a new hope for us, together with the Police Chief, that in our war against illegal (migrant workers) placement syndicates, the state is here to protect its people," BP2MI Head Benny Rhamdani stated during a press conference here on Thursday.
Rhamdani said the establishment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was proof of the involvement of the police in eradicating human trafficking.
The police task force is also a concrete implementation of the bilateral MoU on legal enforcement for the protection of migrant workers, signed in 2021.
"Police personnel had also swiftly organised integrated operations at hot spot areas for migrant workers, border areas, and other human trafficking-vulnerable areas," he added.
BP2MI commended the police and regional authorities for their effective collaboration in unravelling thousands of human trafficking cases in various regions, he said.
Rhamdani also disclosed that according to BP2MI data, most human trafficking cases occurred in Jakarta with 506 cases, followed by West Java with 264 cases, Riau Islands with 139, East Java with 96, and West Nusa Tenggara with 92 cases.
Moreover, most human trafficking victims were underage sex workers in 207 cases, migrant workers in 122 cases, and domestic workers in 30 cases.
The agency also unravelled online scamming cases from various countries affecting Indonesians, with most victims taken to Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.
"In this case, BP2MI encouraged a more active role by Indonesian envoys in coordinating human trafficking cases handled in placement countries," Rhamdani stressed.
Meanwhile, the agency head urged residents to understand that human trafficking is an extraordinary transnational organised crime.
Residents seeking to work overseas should use only legal means and fulfill all requirements regulated in Law No. 18 of 2007 on Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, Rhamdani noted.
He also highlighted the need to establish a permanent organisation and develop sustainable collaboration between all stakeholders to eradicate human trafficking and arrest its perpetrators.
"We all hope that syndicates involved in human trafficking networks affecting Indonesian migrant workers would be sanctioned according to law and punished severely," the BP2MI head remarked.
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Translator: Hreeloita DS, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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