Recruited Migrant Workers Without Official Procedures, 2 Perpetrators Arrested By NTB Police Investigators

Investigators are examining one of the suspects in the PMI candidate recruitment case with the initials MU alias Mr. Zaki (right) at the NTB/ANTARA Police.

MATARAM - Polda NTB revealed a case of recruiting non-procedural Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) by arresting two perpetrators suspected of being recruiters. Director of General Criminal Investigation (Dirreskrimum) of the NTB Police, Kombes Teddy Ristiawan, explained that this case was revealed starting from the victim's report at the end of September 2022. "From the follow-up to the report, on Monday, we arrested the two suspected recruiters at different locations," said Teddy in Mataram, Antara, Wednesday, November 9. The two suspected of being recruiters were a woman with the initials SN (37) alias Ela from Sengkol, Pujut District, Central Lombok Regency, and MU (47) alias Tuan Zaki from Sandik Village, Batulayar District, West Lombok Regency. The two perpetrators were arrested based on documentary evidence and witness statements, victims, and experts. The results of the investigation revealed that the victims of the two alleged perpetrators were nine people. From the victim, the police confiscated the victim's identity card, a passport on behalf of the victim, and payment receipts for recruitment. In addition to confiscating evidence and information from the victims, the police also pocketed expert statements from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) and the NTB Manpower and Transmigration Service (Disnakertrans). "So, the two perpetrators were revealed to have carried out the mode by promising the victim to go to work as PMI in Saudi Arabia at a cost of Rp. 22 million per person," he said. The two perpetrators discussed the Rp22 million as a cost for all administrative needs to work abroad, such as making passports, health checks, and managing work visas. "Until it was reported, the two perpetrators had just carried out the process of checking health and making passports. Not yet departed," said Teddy. The results of this investigation later became the basis of the NTB Regional Police's Youth, Children and Women Sub-Division (Renakta) team to arrest the two perpetrators. As a follow-up to the basic arrests on the results of the investigation, the police have conducted a case title by naming both of them as suspects. "On Monday (7/11) we conducted a case title with the results of naming the two as suspects who were indicated to have violated the PMI Protection Act," he said. In this determination, investigators applied Article 81 in conjunction with Article 69 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning PMI Protection with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of IDR 15 billion. "Following up on the determination of the suspects, investigators detained both of them at the NTB Police Detention Center," said Teddy.