REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- Indonesian Ambassador to China and Mongolia Soegeng Rahardjo has disclosed several modi operandi used for human trafficking, especially those involving Indonesian workers in China.
"Two ways are used largely. In the first modus operandi, Indonesian migrant workers who faced legal problems in Hong Kong and did not have a new working permit were sent to Macau," Rahardjo noted here, Friday.
In the second approach, they lured migrant workers in Taiwan and Hong Kong by offering higher wages, but in fact, they then got trapped in human trafficking networks.
"The two modes of operation were frequently unearthed, but the most dangerous scheme was prostitution and marriage," he added.
According to the ambassador, most Indonesian workers smuggled to China worked as prostitutes, while others worked as laborers in factories or farms.
"It would be difficult to protect Indonesians who were lured into working in spas, but in fact, they were instructed to work as prostitutes. Some female workers were also smuggled to marry the locals here. The middlemen are in Indonesia," he disclosed.
He said human trafficking was rampant owing to factors, such as poverty and lack of education.
"One way to overcome the problem is to improve the quality of education," he remarked.
Rahardjo admitted that it will be difficult to impose legal sanctions against the perpetrators of human trafficking, as the authority has to prove that the victims were compelled to come to the country.
"I think it would be better to prevent them from coming here. The victims knew nothing. It is the agents who should be punished," he emphasized.
Rahardjo has supported the implementation of the immigration office's regulation on applicants of new passports that necessitates submitting a minimum deposit of Rp15-20 million in a bid to control the use of Indonesian passports.
Earlier, the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong had found some Indonesian workers working in mainland China and Australia on the orders of their employers.
Such practices were illegal, as migrant workers should only work at one address in accordance with the work contract.
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