Restrain The Slavery Of The 'Slave' Child On The Ship

Photo of boat ropes (Public Domain Pictures / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The public is shocked by the news of the death of three crew members (WNI) as a result of experiencing suffering at work. They work for the fishing boats Long Xin 605, Long Xin 629 and Tian Yu 8 belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC). This story brings back the face of slavery in the middle of the sea. Their unfortunate fate, 'the ship's slave children' (ABK).

Departing from this case, Executive Director of Migrant CARE Wahyu Susilo considers the fact that the condition of Indonesian migrant workers, especially those working in the maritime sector, has a grim face. Wahyu said that the vulnerability to exploitation experienced by migrant workers is not new.

The Global Slavery Index issued by Walk Free in 2014-2016 places migrant workers in the marine and fisheries sector - especially as crew members on fishing vessels - as the group of workers most vulnerable to experiencing modern slavery practices.

"In this ranking, it is counted that there are hundreds of thousands of Indonesian crew members on fishing vessels who are in the trap of modern slavery. If this condition continues until now, then the situation has not changed and this is certainly very sad," Wahyu told VOI , Thursday, 7. May.

This case certainly reminds us that Indonesia once struggled with investigating slavery in the marine sector, especially during the days of the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti. At that time, there was a case of labor slavery on a fishing boat in the waters of Benjina, Aru Islands, Maluku Province. These crew members work for 20 to 22 hours per day, are tortured, and receive no wages.

Unfortunately, Wahyu said, in investigating this case, the Indonesian government has not taken the initiative to expand its handling of the fate of Indonesian migrant workers as crew members on foreign flag fishing vessels operating across the country.

"This initiative also did not receive significant support from the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker), the Ministry of Transportation or the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency or BP2MI," said Wahyu.

Meanwhile, in the case of alleged slavery experienced by Indonesian crew members on this Chinese ship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to be experiencing difficulties in handling cases related to the jurisdiction of the case.

"You can imagine if a case occurs on a fishing vessel with A flag, the owner is a citizen of country B and the case occurs at sea under the authority of country C or in the high seas. However, whatever the situation, the state should be present to provide protection for the crew of Indonesian ships," Wahyu said.

Photo illustration of a fishing vessel (Dendoktoor / Pixabay)

Wahyu assessed that the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is normative, has not yet dived into the main issue, is there any pressure to investigate human rights violations. In addition, Wahyu also saw that there had been no firm statement to ensure the fulfillment of the rights of the crew members.

"So, Migrant CARE urges the Ministry of Manpower and BP2MI to be pro-active in summoning the ABK recruiting agents to hold corporations accountable and moreover if it is found that violations of the law must be continued through the applicable legal mechanism," he said.

Problematic work agreement

Wahyu urged the Ministry of Manpower to investigate the work agreement signed by the crew members on the Chinese fishing boat. This is because the contents of the letter are considered insulting human values.

In the MBC report, the South Korean media, the crew members have a work statement signed with the material. Its contents, they will bear all the risks if a disaster occurs to death.

In this letter, ABK stated that their respective families already knew the contents of the agreement. Therefore, if something goes wrong with the ABK, their family cannot bring the matter to the police or Indonesian law.

"This work contract was made under duress. In fact, all work contracts must be made equal, not under duress, and in accordance with the applicable decent work standards," said Wahyu.

MBC also reported that three Indonesian citizens who were crew members died on the Long Xin 629 and Long Xin 604 ships belonging to China. The cause of the death of the crew members on the Chinese fishing boat was due to slavery. The crew members of the Indonesian ship are suspected of having to work which is not in accordance with human rights.

The case that was reported by the MBC television station was widely known by the Indonesian public, after a Youtuber named Jang Hansol who was fluent in Indonesian, on the Korean Reomit account, explained the chronology of the news.

After watching the MBC news broadcast, Hansol stated that workers, including the Indonesian crew members, had exploited them. They, said Hansol, were required to work 18 hours per day. Then, they only get 6 hours to rest as well as hours to eat. While on the ship, the crew did not get proper drinking water. They can only drink filtered seawater.

The passports of the crew members were confiscated, so they could not escape. Not only that, the crew who worked at sea for 13 months only received a salary of 140,000 won or around IDR 1.7 million. As a result, three crew members died due to disease in the ship in the middle of the ocean. They are Ari (24 years), Al Fatah (19 years), and Sepri (24 years). The bodies of the three crew members were not taken to the mainland, but were transported to the open seas.

The crew's corpse was put in a bag, then the other crew members carried out similar activities such as a funeral ceremony, then the bodies were carried and floated out to sea. This is recorded in a video broadcast by MBC with the caption taken on March 30, 2020 in the western Pacific Ocean.