Minister Of PPPA Says Victims Of TIP From NTT Have Fake Passports

Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Bintang Puspayoga in Kupang, NTT (ANTARA)

KUPANG - Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Bintang Puspayoga said the victim of the Trafficking in Persons (TPPO) Jacob Martins from NTT who died in Malaysia had a fake passport.

This was said by Bintang when picking up the body of Jacob Martins, an Indonesian migrant worker (PMI) who works non-procedurally on oil palm plantations in Serawak, Malaysia.

He said, in a statement from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Kuching, Malaysia, it was stated that the late Jacob Martins was a resident of Obenani Hamlet, Umaren Village, Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. The deceased was caused by a coronary artwork disease and died at the Long Long Health Clinic, Serawak.

The Minister of PPPA admitted that the sad thing was that Jacob Martins' passport was recorded as from Entikong, West Kalimantan, even though the deceased came from Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

"With all of us here together with Komnas HAM and BP2MI NTT, we can coordinate with each other. We have asked BP2MI so that this case of illegal or non-procedural migrant workers does not happen again," said the Minister of PPPA, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 25.

The Minister of PPPA held a dialogue on the prevention and handling of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in North Central Timor. In addition, the minister also had a dialogue with stakeholders regarding the TIP in East Flores and met several survivors of TIP victims.

According to him, the incident of the death of Jacob Martins will be an important note in dialogue, especially to strengthen the function of preventing TIP.

"We are intensively advocating and socializing the prevention and handling of TIP," he added.

Menteri Bintang mengatakan bahwa saat di Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara sudah terlihat praktik baik penanganan TIP di sana berkat sinergi yang kuat pada kerus tugas setempat.

He added that talking about TIP, you can't just focus on the downstream, namely on handling. However, it must be accompanied by early prevention upstream. That's why the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (Kemen-PPPA) encourages the village budget to be used as well as to empower the economy at the village level.

Because, he continued, if villagers already have economic independence, they will not be easily lured by large salaries abroad with high risks. "Once again, this TIP is an extraordinary crime," said the Minister of PPPA.

Meanwhile, representatives from Komnas HAM, Anis Hidayah, agree with the Minister of PPPA so that villages can make their citizens independent and be economically empowered.

"We encourage the prevention and handling of TIP using the human rights perspective. It has become a culture in NTT to be able to work abroad and this is their right," he added.

However, the government's job is to ensure they work safely. Their vulnerability to TIP must be prevented from upstream. Each district should have a task force to prevent and handle TIP.

Komnas HAM's findings in South Central Timor Regency already have a task force to prevent and handle TIP, but are not supported in terms of budgeting and coordination are still weak.

It is hoped that in the near future there will be discussions between the Ministry of PPPA, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Trade PDTT, and the Ministry of Social Affairs to formulate a joint commitment that the prevention and handling of TIP will start from upstream to downstream. So, agreeing with the Minister of PPPA that villages must be empowered.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, he said, is expected to issue an appeal in the form of a circular for the issuance of village regulations regarding safe migration. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Villages is to encourage village funds to be used for economic empowerment of rural communities.

"In South Central Timor, there are issues of poverty, violence, and stunting to TIP. The problem is complex," said Anis.

He assessed that village regulations regarding safe immigration can contain control of domicile certificates, TIP literacy, falsification of documents, so that TIP incidents can be prevented from the start.