Indonesian Embassy In Manila Repatriation 53 Indonesian Citizens Indicated For Victims Of Trafficking In Persons

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Embassy in Manila has repatriated 53 Indonesian citizens (WNI) indicated victims of the crime of trafficking in persons (TPPO) in the Philippines.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo in a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Manila quoted from Antara, Saturday, May 27, stated that the rescue of Indonesian citizens who were victims of TIP this time was the largest in the Philippines.

The repatriation process went smoothly thanks to the collaboration between the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and related parties in the Philippines, including the Immigration Bureau and the Philippine Police.

The Indonesian Embassy in Manila has provided assistance since the rescue operation in early May 2023, the management of Indonesian citizens traveling documents returned to Indonesia, the management of the immigration process in the Philippines, coordination with relevant agencies in Indonesia for post-tibaration handling, to delivery to NAIA Airport, Manila, to be repatriated to Indonesia.

The repatriation was carried out in two stages, namely on May 25, 2023 as many as 20 Indonesian citizens, and 33 Indonesian citizens on May 26, 2023.

Indonesian citizens who were successfully repatriated were part of Indonesian citizens who were rescued from the Clark area, Pampanga, Philippines. The total number of Indonesian citizens rescued from Clark, Pampanga is 242 Indonesian citizens.

Of these, 114 people have obtained permission to leave the Philippines, the remaining 126 people still have to undergo the process by the Philippine Immigration Bureau.

The repatriation effort is the result of a continuous process starting from the political level among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Handling the TIP case in Southeast Asia became one of the main agendas of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo in early May.

The inter-state political agreement is then described at the intra-representative operational level which includes all related functions in representatives to achieve a form of coordination and collaboration between the Indonesian Police Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and various law enforcement institutions in the Philippines.

Ambassador Agus further conveyed his commitment that the Indonesian Embassy in Manila will continue to strive to help the remaining Indonesian citizens repatriate so that they can return to the country safely.