Bengkayang Police Failed 6 TIP Victims To Malaysia

Bengkayang Police thwarted the delivery of six Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) to Malaysia (ANTARA/Ho-Humas)

The Bengkayang Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Satreskrim Polres), West Kalimantan thwarted the shipment of six Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) to Malaysia who were suspected of being victims of the Trafficking in Persons (TPPO) case.

"The Bengka Police have named a man with the initials H (40), a resident of Malo Jelayan Village, Shout District, Bengkayang Regency, as a suspect in this alleged criminal case of trafficking in persons," said Head of the Bengkayang Police Criminal Investigation Unit AKP Anuar Syarifudin in Bengkayang, Antara, Thursday, November 7.

Suspect H, who is a travel driver, is suspected of having carried out illegal PMI placement activities. The determination of this suspect is based on Article 81 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which is juxtaposed with Article 55 of the Criminal Code.

The failure to send the six PMIs was carried out by the Bengkayang Police on Wednesday afternoon. "At that time we received information from the public regarding the whereabouts of a silver Daihatsu Sigra travel car suspected of carrying passengers without official documents to the Malaysian border via Jagoi Babang District," he said.

Armed with information from the public, he continued, the Bengkayang Police Opsnal Team followed up.

He further explained that when the team conducted an inspection, there were six passengers in the car, consisting of three women and three men. After initial interrogation, one of the passengers admitted that they would enter Malaysia through the Jagoi Babang border gate.

"Based on this information, we immediately took the driver and his passengers to the Bengkayang Police Headquarters for further investigation," he said.

In this case, the six victims suspected of illegally departing came from various regions in Indonesia. The police also secured evidence in the form of a silver Daihatsu Sigra car and a cell phone belonging to the suspect.

Meanwhile, the Bengkayang Police Chief AKBP Teguh Nugroho appealed to all elements of society, as well as related agencies to be sensitive to the TIP case. His party will also continue to take precautions and take action against TIP perpetrators in the jurisdiction of the Bengkayang Police.

"Immediately report to the Bengkayang Police or contact the nearest Polsek if you see, hear or know of illegal PMI actions in Bengkayang Regency. There is no tolerance for this TIP perpetrator," he said.

The head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Volunteer Community (Kawan PMI) of Bengkayang Regency, Yusli, expressed his appreciation for the Bengkayang Police in thwarting the delivery of non-procedural PMIs to Malaysia.

Kawan PMI Bengkayang juga berkomitmen membantu pemerintah mencegah mencegah praktik pengiriman PMI nonprocedural ke luar negeri.

Meanwhile, the placement of PMI for the West Kalimantan region in 2024 as of January to September was 410 people, and the repatriation of PMI or problematic was 3,910 people. The placement of PMI from Bengkayang itself is nine people and 257 people are repatriated.

"The average destination country for Malaysia is the most, both Japan and Brunei Darussalam," he said.

The reason for the repatriation of PMI through BP3MI West Kalimantan is that there are mental disorders, death, neglect, deportation, illness and repatriation.

"We will become a strategic partner of the government in an effort to realize the placement of PMI according to procedures, is safe, and suppresses victims from the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO)," he said.

Kawan PMI Kabupaten Bengkayang memiliki tugas dan fungsi untuk membangun mencegahkan, memberikan sosialisasi dan advokasi kepada masyarakat serta mendampingi korban atau yang ingin bekerja luar negeri secara resmi.

"We are committed to helping to facilitate access to PMI placement and protection services from legal, economic and social aspects before, during and after working in accordance with statutory regulations," he said.