Puan Encourages The Government To Mitigate Job Scam Cases For The Safety Of Indonesian Citizens

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani (Dok DPR Photo)

JAKARTA - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, highlighted the rampant cases of job vacancies abroad or work scams that claimed many victims. Puan asked for mitigation considering that work scams led to the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO).

Not a few Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) have suffered their fate after being deceived by job offers. The placement of jobs in this case is usually not in accordance with the job vacancies ads offered.

The job scam case itself is found in the ASEAN area where PMI is forced to work for crime modes. In recent months, there have been a number of job scam cases that have hit Indonesian citizens.

Most recently, 45 Indonesian citizens were reported to be victims of online scamming companies in Laos. For no definite reason, their passports were detained by the company even though they had stopped working. Just last week, 53 Indonesian citizens were sent back to Indonesia after becoming victims of international scamming in the Philippines.

Not long ago, there was also a TIP case against 26 Indonesian citizens in Myanmar. Initially, they were lured by lucrative facilities to work in Thailand. There were also 13 Indonesian citizens who were held captive in Cambodia after becoming victims of TIP.

In handling such cases, said Puan, the Government must be able to ensure the safety of Indonesian citizens.

"I hope that the Government and related parties who take care of this matter will be more proactive. Prioritize saving the lives of our citizens. We must immediately find a way out so that cases like this do not happen again," Puan asked, Monday, May 29.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) reported that 934 Indonesian citizens were victims of fraud on online scammers from January 2021 to September 2022.

There are so many of our citizens who are victims of job scams abroad. On average it leads to trafficking in persons and experiencing violence. What's wrong here? We have to be able to find the root of the problem so that we can find solutions from upstream to downstream," said Puan.

"In particular, I ask for the relevant board (AKD) equipment, both from Commission IX of the DPR which takes care of employment issues, Commission I of the DPR regarding international relations and Commission III of the DPR in terms of law enforcement, in order to properly oversee this problem," added the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

Puan also added that the government, both ministries and institutions such as the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BP2MI) must continue to monitor various issues related to PMI.

In addition to massive socialization as a form of education, the Government and law enforcement are reminded to break the chain of illegal PMI distribution syndicates.

"The role of the Government in educating the public is very important. Use various channels and facilities to socialize the dangers of job scams so that our citizens are more careful when deciding to accept job offers abroad," said Puan.

"In addition, PMI candidates and all Indonesian people must get easy information about official labor distribution companies and how to go to work abroad legally," he added.

Puan said that law enforcers must also dare to give strict sanctions for perpetrators of fraud in the distribution of workers abroad, including from internal elements of the Government in collaboration with fraudulent distributors.

According to Puan, Law no. 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and Law no. 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of Trafficking in Persons has strictly regulated criminal sanctions for the perpetrators of these crimes.

"There is already a law that protects our migrant workers, so it only needs concrete implementation in the field in enforcing the law to protect the community," explained Puan.

He said, the constitution has mandated the State to protect the entire nation and all of Indonesia's bloodshed. Therefore, the Government must be firm with other countries to ensure the security of Indonesian citizens working abroad.

"Constitution has also regulated the right to decent work for all Indonesian people. It is the duty of the State to ensure that its citizens get decent jobs wherever they are," he said.

Furthermore, Puan also asked the Government to provide protection for Indonesian citizens involved in legal cases in other countries. Like the case of 30 Indonesian citizens who were arrested in Malaysia because they were related to online gambling cases. There are allegations, they are victims of TIP.

"We appreciate the police, immigration, and the Indonesian Embassy who continue to coordinate with the Malaysian Government to provide protection to Indonesian citizens who are currently having legal cases there. Investigations into whether they are victims of TIP must be carried out completely for the sake of justice and legal certainty," said Puan.

At the 42nd ASEAN Summit, Puan herself brought the issue of protection for PMI through the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) forum which is a parliamentary forum for Southeast Asian countries.

Puan also hopes that the parliamentary diplomacy carried out by her party can help solve various problems that befell PMI, including job scam crime, violence to TIP.

"In overcoming this issue, we in the DPR also prioritize the diplomacy process between parliaments in ASEAN. Through parliamentary channels, we hope that PMIs who are victims of various legal problems abroad can be minimized," he concluded.