JAKARTA - The Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) highlighted the trend of victims of the Trafficking in Persons (TPPO) starting to shift to people who are already highly educated.

"Interestingly, for example today, cutting-edge, those who are victims of TIP are no longer those who are categorized as highly educated or do not have access to information," said Head of BP2MI Benny Rhamdani in the FMB9 ASEAN Declaration to Protect Migrant Workers who were followed online in Jakarta, Monday, May 15, confiscated by Antara.

Benny said that in the case of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who left to work in Cambodia or Myanmar who were affected by online scamming, the average level of educators was S1 or D3.

They are placed illegally through the lure of getting high-cost salaries in a fast way, even though they know that they will be illegally dispatched, namely using tourist visas, Umrah visas or pilgrimages to the Middle East.

Even though Indonesia already has a legal umbrella for Law Number 18 of 2017 Article 8 Paragraph 1 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which is related to administrative protection and technical protection.

It emphasized that every document for administrative purposes must also be owned by workers and ensured that the visa is a worker's visa.

Setiap mereka yang bekerja resmi ke negara-negara penempatan, itu jelas harus mengikuti apa yang disebutkan oleh undang-undang kita. Tidak sekadar mereka harus mengikuti pendidikan dan pelatihan, tidak sekadar harus mereka dibuktikan dengan kompensing atau tercertifikasi competensi, katanya.

Benny asked for this issue to be closely monitored by the government. Based on BP2MI data by name by address the number of PMIs who officially work in Malaysia, there are 1,324,102 people in the plantation sector, operators, and the domestic sector.

Then in Singapore approximately 322,000 people, Thailand 4,000 people for convection and sailors, 92,000 people in Brunei Darussalam for domestic work and general workers, and Myanmar approximately 1,016 people.

On his occasion he emphasized that the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and Timor Leste, are not placement countries, so that all people who want to work abroad are advised to ensure legal departure.

Benny hopes that the holding of the 42nd ASEAN Summit led by Indonesia can invite all leaders of the ASEAN region to sovereigntyly declare war on TIP syndicates and not give permission for foreign nationals to work unofficially in other countries.

Thus, all leaders can declare that the ASEAN area is ready to fight the crime of TIP and enforce the law that can protect migrant workers from being caught in the deception of the perpetrators.

"We can use diplomatic forums to be tough so that there are no negotiations, no compromises, on the crime of trafficking in persons that we can categorize as crimes against humanity," he said.


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