Coordinating Minister Muhadjir Corrections To Online Judicial Victims' Statements Receiving Social Assistance

Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture Muhadjir Effendy (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy clarified his statement that online gambling victims would be given social assistance (bansos). Muhadjir emphasized that those who received social assistance for victims of online gambling were members of the victim's family, not perpetrators. "It needs to be understood, don't cut it. If the perpetrators have clearly to be prosecuted because it is criminal. Well, what I mean is that the recipients of the social assistance are members of families such as children, wives, or husbands," he said after Eid al-Adha prayers at the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership Office in Menteng, Jakarta, Monday 17 June. Muhadjir added that the idea was one of the materials proposed by the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture in preparation for the formation of the Online Gambling Eradication Task Force (Satgas). As deputy head of the task force, Muhadjir accompanied Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Hadi Tjahjanto, who served as chairman in the ad hoc team structure. The formation of this task force was inaugurated through Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 21 of 2024 concerning the Online Gambling Eradication Task Force published in Jakarta on Friday 14 June.

Muhadjir emphasized that social assistance is important to help families affected by online gambling behavior. According to him, the family not only suffered material losses, but also serious impacts on mental health, it can even lead to death, as happened in several cases. "This condition creates the responsibility of the government, especially for us at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture. We will discuss the mechanism for providing social assistance to families affected by online gambling together with the minister of social affairs," he added.