NTT Governor Admits Human Trafficking Due To Poverty

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAKARTA - East Nusa Tenggara Governor, Viktor B Laiskodat, said the main problem with the large number of human trafficking cases in NTT is poverty.

"Speaking of human trafficking is caused by many causes. One of the causes is the problem of poverty", said Laiskodat in Kupang, Thursday, November 4.

This was conveyed by Laiskodat when he opened a media training seminar and the formation of a journalist network which was attended by dozens of journalists from print, online, radio, and television media.

The training activity with the theme "Unraveling the Case of Trafficking in Persons in NTT" was held by VIVAT International Indonesia and Migrant Care, Tempo Institute and Mensen Met een Missie which started from Thursday to Sunday, November 7.

The number one person in NTT said that currently, the poverty rate in NTT reaches 20.90 percent or around 1,168 poor people in NTT out of a total population of 5.4 million people in NTT.

"To deal with the problem of poverty in Indonesia and NTT, the central government together with the NTT Provincial Government have made various efforts", he said as quoted by Antara.

He also said that the central government had made policies on how to deal with the poor. Such as the provision of social assistance, cash PKH (Hope Family Program).

Viktor also said that seven provinces fall into the category of extreme poverty and are being handled, namely West Java, Central Java, East Java, Papua, West Papua, Maluku, NTT, and this province is an example of handling extreme poverty in Indonesia.

"Especially in NTT, there are 5 districts, namely Rote Ndao, East Manggarai, East Sumba, Central Sumba, and TTS", said Laiskodat.

Viktor also appreciated Vivat and Zero human trafficking who wanted to eliminate trafficking cases in NTT and the NTT provincial government said he would provide support by their authority.

Meanwhile the Director of VIVAT International-Indonesia Sr. Genoveva Amaral, SSpS said, trafficking in persons is a transactional form, an act that violates human dignity, and is also an act that violates human rights.

"The provincial government has taken various actions to minimize TIP (Trafficking in Persons), NTT Governor's Letter No. 357 of 2008, and other policies. However, their effectiveness has not been seen in the case of human trafficking in Indonesia and NTT in particular", he said.

He also hopes that the training for journalists in NTT will be able to help investigate various TIP cases in NTT.