JAKARTA: The Catholic Church in Batam highlighted the government’s handling of human trafficking in the area, including recruitment of illegal migrant workers and the socio-economic conditions that amplify the issue.
Santa Theresia Shelter director, Rev. Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, said that the root cause of the high number of illegal migrant workers and human trafficking was that the government is still trapped working in the “downstream” instead of solving “upstream” problems.
“Tightening the border and increasing deportation only solves the effects, without cutting the chains of recruitment, distributor networks, syndicates and socio-economic factors forcing the public to remain vulnerable for recruitment,” he said on Thursday (Nov 5).
“There are legal instruments but there is no budgetary policy, control and evaluation mechanism.” He said that the current interagency capacity and coordination is still insufficient to face transnational criminal syndicates, which are getting more organised digitally.
Paschalis deemed the presence of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Ministry (P2MI) as important, but it has not automatically solved the root causes of migration in migrant workers’ regions of origin, such as Aceh, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
He pushed Indonesia to create a strong coordination and control role directly under the President with real authorities to force all ministries and regional administrations to be responsible.
Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas Indonesia established Sentrum Caritas in Batam, Riau Islands, on May 29 as a vocational training centre and migrant worker information center to strengthen protections for migrant workers and the fight against human trafficking.
The facility is operated to provide vocational skill trainings, safe migration education and legal and psycho-social assistance for prospective migrant workers and human trafficking victims.
With its strategic position, Batam has been the major transit route toward Malaysia and Singapore and requires stronger cross-sector collaboration not only in law enforcement in the border areas but also developing economic capacities in the regions of origin.
“Since the time of the late Pope Francis, the Catholic Church has shown special attention to migrant issues,” said Paschal, who also heads Sentrum Caritas. “The Indonesian Catholic Church’s attention on migrant issues is based on the concerns that many migrant workers fell victim of human trafficking.”
He said that only through the synergy between competent vocational training and strict enforcement against syndicates can waves of non-procedural migrant workers can be reduced comprehensively.
Separately, the Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru started November by facilitating the deportation and repatriation of 55 Indonesians on Thursday from Pekan Nenas Immigration Detention Depot (DTI) in Johor state.
The repatriates, consisting of 45 men, nine women and an abandoned child, were sent home from Stulang Laut international ferry terminal through Batam Centre international ferry terminal.
Upon arrival, the Indonesians were immediately handed over to a joint team consisting of the Batam Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Service Post (P4MI), immigration, health quarantine and other related agencies for registration and psychosocial assistance before they were sent home.
Consular diplomat at the Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru, Debbi Oktarossa, called on the public to always follow the official procedures if they want to work abroad and look for information from trusted agencies such as the local manpower agency, Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP3MI) and the P2MI Ministry.
As of November, the consulate general has facilitated the deportation of 5,022 Indonesians from all its jurisdictions in the Malaysian states of Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Pahang.
“For those who want to work abroad, make sure to get information from trusted agencies and always follow the official procedures,” Debbi said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
