... the institution will also focus on transporting 194 foreign crew members from Benjina."
Tual (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Immigration Office will move 194 ship crew members who previously worked for PT Pusaka Benjina Resources in Aru Islands district to Tual in Southeast Maluku.

"Besides deporting the rest of the crew from Myanmar and Laos to the Indonesian Fishery Seaport in Tual, the institution will also focus on transporting 194 foreign crew members from Benjina," Head of the Class II Tual Immigration Office Rudiara Kosasih said here on Friday.

According to Kosasih, the crew members will be accommodated in the Tual fishery seaport for verification and processing of their deportation documents.

The office plans to repatriate 100 crew members of the company to Myanmar on Friday. They will be repatriated directly from Ambon in Maluku province to Myanmar by a military plane.

As many as 369 members of the ships crew from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos asked the Indonesian government to repatriate them as they were subjected to slavery by the Benjina company.

A task force of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries assisted in their evacuation following investigations in several places such as Dobo in Aru Islands and Benjina Island.

Earlier, the Associated Press of the United States had released a video titled "Was Your Seafood Caught by Slaves?" that showed several prisons and tombs believed to be the cemetery for crew members of the ship in Benjina.

Investigations by the police revealed human trafficking in Benjina, and the institution detained seven suspects in Aru and the Southeast Maluku Resort Police office in relation to the case.

Five of the seven suspects were identified as Thai people.

The police also detained Herman Martino, who is believed to be the leader of the Benjina company, as a suspect.

Chief of the Aru Islands Resort Police Harold Huwae stated that the investigation was still ongoing. The company allegedly violated human trafficking laws.
(Uu.B019/INE/KR-BSR/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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