Why Do Allegations Of Trade Of People Under The Guise Of Internship Continue To Repeat?

A work applicant scans a code to apply for a job show on Thursday (29/02) in Jakarta. (Between)

JAKARTA Cases of alleged criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO) in which thousands of students become victims are being discussed. Internship should be an arena to boost student knowledge in their fields, not work without procedural means.

Recently, 1,047 students from 33 universities in Indonesia were suspected of being victims of employment under the guise of internships in Germany from October to December 2023.

Director of Tipidum Bareskrim Polri Brigadier General Pol. Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro said this case was revealed starting from a report from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Germany regarding four students who came to the Indonesian Embassy because of the internship program.

"The students were employed non-procedurally, resulting in students being explored," said Djuhandhani, confiscated by Antara.

A total of five people have been named as suspects, consisting of three women and two men. Female suspects, namely ER alias EW (39), A alias AE (37) and AJ (52). While the men, initials AS (65) and MZ (60). Two of the five suspects are currently still in Germany (ER and A). Some of the suspects are on campus.

This case raises the question of many questions, why the internship period that should be a valuable moment for students can actually be a loophole for the alleged human trafficking?

Quoted from Kompas, the mode of fraud with the alleged exploitation involved two companies, namely PT CVGEN and PT SHB. Both came to a number of camps for students to take part in internship programs in Germany.

This internship program is said to be converted into 20 semester credit units (SKS) and is included in the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) program. But after further investigation, this program turned out to be not an internship, but aferienjob which is a physical work of half-time during the holiday season.

Those who got the opportunity admitted that they had to sign documents in foreign languages that were difficult to understand. Students also have to pay Rp. 6 million for departures and bailout funds of Rp. 30-50 million whose returns are made by cutting their work wages every month.

The problem is, Kemenbudristek emphasized that MBKM has never cooperated with ferrienjobs. Even since October 2023, the Directorate General of Education and Technology has taken steps on the issue of a ferry job by issuing circular letter No. 1032/E.E2/DT.00.05/2023 to all universities, both public and private. In essence, the circular asks campuses to stop participating in the ferry job program because it finds many violations of student rights.

This case made the Professor of Criminal Law who is also the former Vice Chancellor of Jenderal Sudirman University (Unsoed) Purwokerto Hibnu Nugroho open his voice. According to him, the case of alleged criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO) under the guise of internships in Germany is actually not an internship, but rather the practice of field work which is in the name of an internship.

Even though internships are an important period for students before entering the world of work. Because internships or internships are a learning program while practicing work in a direct way to a company for some time.

Internship abroad generally attracts student and student interest. Because in addition to the experience of working, internships abroad are also used as moments of paid roads.

Unfortunately, the unclear concept of internships eventually raises a lot of questions and causes many people, including academics, to be considered less understanding so that cases like this happen.

'The trade actually directs students in a job. For example, internship law students, yes directed to become notaries, become lawyers, judges, and so on. Meanwhile, in this case, students are not directed at all,' said Hibnu, quoting Kompas.

The alleged TIP case with an internship mode is not the only time this has happened. In the middle of last year, the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police named two former directors of a polytechnic in West Sumatra as suspects in the alleged TIP case by sending interns to Japan.

Instead of an internship, at that time the students worked for 14 hours every day, without any holidays, and were only given a maximum meal time of 15 minutes. The case was uncovered when two students who were victims reported their alleged work as workers to the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

At that time, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) Hariyanto said that the practice of apprenticeship arose, one of which was due to a large salary offer from abroad in the midst of the difficulty of finding work domestically.

Previously, in 2017, Migrant Care handled a similar TIP case in Kendal, when students at a vocational school were recruited to work at a Malaysian company.

Seeing similar cases that often recur, Migrant Care activist Siti Badriyah said what happened in Germany was an old pattern.

"That's a long pattern case, yes. In the past, it was to Japan. Then after that Taiwan," said Siti.

"Imings of internships that can be converted into a number of SKS. Tempting indeed, internships get money but are calculated for lectures. Indeed, TIP is a tempting lure," he continued.