"We conducted in-depth interviews as well as background and purpose check for them," Head of Immigration Information and Communication Technology at the Ngurah Rai Bali Immigration Office, Shandro Bobby Raymon, stated in Denpasar, Thursday.
Bali Immigration Office also cooperates with law enforcement officials, including stakeholders, such as the police and the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI), to handle this matter.
According to the Ngurah Rai Immigration's data, during the January-June 2023 period, authorities were able to thwart the departure of 412 illegal PMIs through the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali.
According to Raymon, this number has increased as compared to the same conditions in 2022, with only six illegal PMIs.
Apart from being PMIs without legal documents, Raymon suspected that they could be victims of human trafficking practices.
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Based on the latest Ngurah Rai Immigration records on June 15, 2023, along with the police and BP2MI, they were able to thwart the departure of four victims suspected of trafficking in persons involving two suspects.
Raymon said they were promised to work in Cambodia via Thailand and depart via I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali.
He noted that improvement in the global situation due to the controlled COVID-19 pandemic relaxed restrictions on people's movements between countries.
Hence, these conditions provide opportunities for more departures of PMIs from Bali to overseas, he remarked.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier stated that human trafficking cases against PMIs had increased quite drastically during the 2020-2023 period, with 1,800 cases recorded.
Hence, to this end, the Bali Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights is finalizing the formation of an intelligence operations team to prevent human trafficking.
Currently, the office is discussing the technicalities of forming an intelligence operations team under the name "Kresna" that is carried out centrally under the control of the Directorate of Immigration Intelligence of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
The immigration intelligence operation will be targeted to collect data and information about potential suspected human trafficking practices.
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Translator: Dewa Ketut S W, Resinta S
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
