Receiving Reports Of Victims Of Death Due To Trafficking In Capai 1,900 People, Mahfud Calls Jokowi Ordering The Restructuring Of The TIP Eradication Task Force

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (right) collaborated with Head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency Benny Rhamdani/ANTARA

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo ordered a restructuring of the Task Force for the Eradication and Prevention of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO). The President conveyed this after receiving a report from the Head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) Benny Rhamdani in an internal meeting regarding the eradication of TIP. "Earlier, Mr. Benny reported to the president that in just one year the bodies returned because the trafficking crime of people reached more than 1,900," said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD to media crews within the Jakarta Presidential Palace, Antara, Tuesday, May 30. Mahfud added that the latest data even found that at least 55 Indonesian migrant workers from East Nusa Tenggara returned to the country in a state of death from January to May 2023. "Therefore, the President stated that he was restructuring the Trafficking Crime Task Force," he said. In addition, President Jokowi also ordered quick steps to be taken in the next month from all levels of government officials related to TIP. "This is to show the public that the state, police, TNI, and other government officials are acting quickly and present," he said. On the same occasion, Head of BP2MI Benny Rhamdani said that his agency in the last three years had handled approximately 94,000 Indonesian migrant workers who were deported from Middle Eastern and Asian countries. Of these, about 90 percent of them departed unofficially and are believed to be dispatched by syndicates of illegal migrant workers. "Then the bodies are approximately 1,900. This means that every day on average two coffins enter the country. The same is true, 90 percent are those who used to depart unofficially, victims of illegal syndicate placements," said Benny.

The government currently regulates efforts to prevent and handle TIP through Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 22 of 2021 concerning Amendments to Presidential Regulation Number 69 of 2008 concerning the Task Force for Prevention and Handling of Trafficking in Persons.