129 Indonesian Citizens Who Become Victims Of TIP In Cambodia Successfully Rescued, 12 People Will Be Returned Today

Illustration of Indonesian migrant workers. (ANTARA Photo/Agus Setiawan)

JAKARTA - As many as 12 Indonesian citizens (WNI) who were victims of fraud and the crime of trafficking in persons (TPPO) will be repatriated today, in line with a series of meetings between Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and the Cambodian authorities.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Retno met with Cambodia's Minister of Home Affairs Krolahom Sar Kheng, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Foreign Minister appreciated the Cambodian Government's cooperation in the rescue mission for Indonesian citizens from Sihanoukville last week.

"The Foreign Minister conveyed the need to accelerate the repatriation of the victims, the handling of similar cases experienced by other Indonesian citizens in Cambodia and the steps to prevent TIP," said the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement Friday, August 5.

In particular, the Indonesian Foreign Minister encouraged the immediate completion of the Indonesia-Cambodia memorandum of understanding negotiations regarding the eradication of transnational crimes. The memorandum of understanding will be the basis for closer cooperation to eradicate TIP cases, especially in terms of prevention, protection of victims (protection), law enforcement against TIP perpetrators (persecution) and policy coherence in handling TIP (policy coherence).

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Minister of Home Affairs supports efforts to accelerate the repatriation of Indonesian victims, treat other Indonesian victims and encourage the completion of negotiations on a memorandum of understanding between the two countries regarding the eradication of cross-border crimes.

Meanwhile, Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugaha, said that so far, 129 Indonesian citizens have been rescued by the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh. Initially, the reported figure was 53 people.

The latest, this morning local time there were also a number of Indonesian citizens who had just arrived at the Indonesian Embassy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately carried out a series of stages such as psychological examinations to interviews.

Judha explained that the 129 Indonesian citizens worked in different companies and locations, but the majority were in Sihanoukville. He said the plan for the repatriation of the Indonesian citizens would be carried out in stages.

"As a concrete result, the repatriation of Indonesian citizens will soon be carried out in stages according to the availability of flights. The first stage will be repatriating 12 Indonesian citizens to the country today," Judha explained in a virtual press statement Friday.

"After arrival, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with relevant Ministries/Institutions for the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims into their respective families and the process of law enforcement against the perpetrators," he said.

It is known that Foreign Minister Retno, who is currently in Cambodia, before meeting with the Cambodian Minister of Home Affairs, also briefly met the Chief of the Cambodian Police, General Neth Savouen, to discuss steps related to protection, handling and prevention of Indonesian citizens who are victims of TIP.