4 Suspects In The TIP Case Arrested In Cirebon, Victims Have Been Departed To Conflicting Countries

4 suspects in the TIP case when shown to the media in Cirebon, West Java, Friday (9/6/2023). (ANTARA/Ho-Humas Cirebon Police)

The Cirebon City Police (Polresta) revealed four cases of criminal trafficking in persons (TPPO) with the lure of work abroad.

"We have uncovered four TIP cases, by naming four people as suspects," said Cirebon Police Chief Kombes Pol Arif Budiman in Cirebon, West Java (West Java), Friday, June 9, as reported by Antara.

Arif said that the four people named as suspects in the TIP case, namely each with the initials M, R, L, and N. The four of them are residents of Cirebon Regency.

He explained that the four were arrested after reports from the victims and also families who felt they were victims of TIP.

According to him, the mode used by the suspects is to offer to work abroad or become Indonesian migrant workers (PMI). In fact, on average, the victims are neighbors of the suspects who actually send them abroad illegally or become illegal PMIs.

"On average, the victims are also employed in different countries from their original goals," he said.

Arif added, like the suspect M who sent the victim to Turkey, even though the victim wanted to work in South Korea, and his job did not match his skills.

He said that of the four cases, the victims had worked abroad for several years, and had difficulty asking to be sent back to the country.

In addition, victims who come from Cirebon Regency are also often limited to communicating via telephone or video calls with their families.

"These suspects recruited and placed victims not according to procedures, they even sent victims to conflict countries," he said.

Furthermore, for suspect L, sending victims to the Iraqi state, where the country is still in conflict, so that the victim also does not get the promised salary, even while working only getting Rp5 million.

Arif symbolizes that suspect R also recruited the victim to become a housemaid in Syria, and it was illegally dispatched.

In the case of TIP, his party confiscated a number of evidences, including passports, flight tickets, a number of documents, cellphones, and others.

As a result of their actions, the suspects were charged with Article 4 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning Eradication of TIP and or Article 81 in conjunction with Article 69 and or Article 83 in conjunction with Article 68 in conjunction with Article 5 letters b to e of Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning PMI Protection.

"The four suspects in the TIP case are threatened with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp. 15 billion," he said.