Worried About Being A Victim Of TIP, Migrant Workers From Lebak Are Asked Not To Work In Cambodia

Acting (Plt) Manpower Office of Lebak Regency Rully Charuliyanto. ANTARA/Mansyur

LEBAK - The Manpower Office (Disnaker) of Lebak Regency, Banten, has banned Indonesian Migrant Workers Candidates (CPMI) from the area from working in Cambodia to prevent the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO).

"So far, we have prohibited (CPMI) from working in Cambodia, including Thailand and Myanmar, because they do not have cooperation in the placement of migrant workers," said Lebak Regency Manpower Office (Plt) Rully Charuliyanto in Lebak, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, November 19.

The local government issued a warning so that people would not be interested in offers to work in Cambodia, for fear of becoming victims of TIP.

Despite working in Cambodia, including Thailand and Myanmar, he said he promised a large salary, but it turned out that migrant workers were victims of torture.

He said the government had repatriated Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who worked in the country because they were confirmed illegal.

To prevent TIP, his party instructed the sub-district head and village heads to convey information to the public not to work in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, because there was no official cooperation in placing workers.

Currently, the local government has dispatched 265 PMIs from January to October 2025 for 12 countries in Asia and Europe.

The PMIs work to 12 destination countries, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei Darussalam, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Bulgaria.

Most of them work in formal and non-formal sectors, such as baby nurses, the elderly, vehicle accessories salons, shopkeepers, factories, household assistant workshops, drivers, agriculture, and others.

Rully said all PMIs departing for the country are official and registered with the local Manpower Office. According to him, so far the public has realized the importance of working abroad through official or legal channels and registered at the local Manpower Office because of departures through legal companies abroad are protected by the government and companies concerned.

"We appreciate the maximum socialization of TIP prevention, so that now people who work abroad always go through official channels," he said.

Maulana, a PMI resident of Lebak, admitted that she was happy to be working in Qatar as a motorcycle mechanics so that she could help the family's economy in her hometown.

"We are working abroad to help the economy of the parents and younger siblings who are still in high school," he said.