JAKARTA: Police in Bengkalis regency, Riau, arrested two suspects recently for alleged human trafficking and immigration violations.
Bengkalis Police chief spokesman First Adj. Insp. Juliandi Barzah said on Wednesday (Feb 11) that the case started with a police report on alleged illegal sheltering of Indonesian migrant workers in Senggoro village, Bengkalis district.
“Two suspects were arrested at a house on Jl. Hasanah in Senggoro village,” he said.
The suspects were identified only as J and his wife S. Police found five Indonesian migrant workers who had just returned from Malaysia illegally by sea.
“Based on initial investigation, the migrant workers used a speed boat from Malaysia and were collected at illegal ports using a black Fortuner car and were escorted by the two suspects directly to the shelter house,” Juliandi said.
He added that the newly arrived migrant workers were resting for several hours before they were picked up by the authorities.
“We also impounded a number of items of evidence used by both suspects in carrying out their action,” he said.
“Such as two handphones, a speed boat, a black Fortuner car and a silver Rush car.”
Both suspects have been charged with violating Article 2 in conjunction with Article 10 of the 2007 Human Trafficking Eradication Law and Article 120 of the 2011 Immigration Law in conjunction with Article 457 of the Criminal Code.
“We are calling on the public not to get involved in the sending of illegal migrant workers because it is highly risky and violates the law,” said Juliandi.
The case was uncovered just one week after the arrest of a human trafficking network member in Sepahat village, Bandar Laksmana district, Bengkalis regency.
Detectives from Bengkalis Police Crime Investigation (Reskrim) Unit raided a house on Jl. Intan Baiduri, believed to shelter illegal migrant workers, on Feb 2 at about 3am.
The raid was based on a report to the 110 emergency number and through the private WhatsApp number of Bengkalis Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Fahrian Saleh Siregar.
During the raid, police officers apprehended 12 people, of whom four were named suspects, identified only as Z, MR, SS and C, whose alleged roles were to coordinate the departure of illegal migrant workers to Malaysia by sea from Bengkalis.
The other eight people, including a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, were victims who were due to depart for Malaysia without proper papers.
Also impounded were eight handphones, which were believed to be used to coordinate the smuggling, and a passport owned by one of the victims as evidence.
“We will enforce strict sanctions as deterrence and as proof of Bengkalis Police’s commitment to eradicating human trafficking syndicates, which often use coastal areas to traffic people,” Fahrian said.
“We also call the public to continue using the 110 emergency number and report any suspicious activities. Cooperation from the public is important in preventing illegal migrant workers and human trafficking.”
The victims have been handed over to the Dumai city Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Service Center (P4MI) in preparation for being returned to their hometowns. They will join a batch of 180 migrant workers deported from Malaysia who arrived at Dumai Port on Feb 7 on board the Indomal Dynasty fast ferry.
Riau Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Service Agency (BP3MI) representative Fanny Wahyu Kurniawan said there were still many people lured by well-paid jobs in Malaysia.
“The deported migrant workers were from various provinces, such as East Java, Aceh, West Nusa Tenggara, North Sumatra, Central Java, Riau, South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi,” he said.
During their stay at Dumai P4MI shelter, the migrant workers received medical treatment, handphone registration, identity registration and protection while waiting for their return to their hometowns.
“We also provide information on the dangers of working abroad without proper documentation,” he said. “Working abroad must follow the official channels and procedures so we can minimize the cases of problematic migrant workers in the future.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
