Human Trafficking: Comprehensive Solution Needed

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

A resident prepares documents in front of an immigration officer to process passports on 18 June 2019 at the immigration office in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. The immigration office is intensifying its background checks on passport applicants and has implemented an integrated digital system to share data with the population and civil registration office as part of its efforts to prevent human trafficking

PONTIANAK, KOMPAS  — A comprehensive solution is needed to overcome human trafficking, which is carried out through a marriage promise with Chinese men.

This phenomenon has taken place for a long time, but no significant solution has been offered until now. In addition to strict law enforcement, other measures, such as community economic empowerment and strengthening international diplomacy are needed to solve the problems.

Giving counseling to the community is also important so that local women do not easily accept offers of marriage from certain parties, which will eventually bring them into a human trafficking trap.

The former mayor of Singkawang, West Kalimantan, Hasan Karman, said on Friday that the practice of matchmaking between local women with foreign men, especially Taiwanese citizens, in the regency had taken place since the 1970s.

At that time, many veterans in Taiwan who did not have wives went to Singkawang to find a wife, because, if they did not have a wife, their wealth would be taken by the state. Finding a wife in Taiwan is not easy, because women in the country usually look for an established man.

In the second generation, it was young people who looked for wives in Singkawang. According to him, human trafficking appeared in the third generation. International human trafficking syndicates used a marriage scheme either through a formal marriage or contract marriage with men from China, he said.

The order for brides from China has increased in recent years and has been triggered by the country’s one-child policy that has been implemented since 1979. Due to this policy, in 2020, the number of men of marriage age is 40 million higher than the number of women in the same age group (Kompas, 12/7/2019).

In addition to Singkawang area, victims of human trafficking through the marriage scheme have been also found in West Java, Central Java, Banten and Jakarta in recent years.

Hasan said as the victims of the human trafficking mostly came from poor families, the solution should also include economic empowerment.

In addition to economic empowerment, Heriyanto, the chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Migrant Workers, said Indonesia should also strengthen its diplomacy with other countries because the solution should also include the protection of Indonesian citizens abroad.

The law enforcers must also seriously handle this case because it is estimated that there are many Indonesian citizens in China who have become the victims of the human trafficking syndicate.

Prevention

Efforts to prevent human trafficking, said Heriyanto, must also be strengthened. Prevention should also include a training program for law enforcers, local governments, up to the village level such as traditional leaders in the community.

The training should start from identifying the modus operandi, so that people will refuse and not get trapped by a promise being offered. The training needs to be done massively so that more people become aware of the dangers behind contract marriages with Chinese men.

The community, according to Heriyanto, also needs to be trained to identify the perpetrators. Usually, the practices of "matchmaking" are carried out from generation to generation.

For matchmakers, recruiting women who are willing to become a bride is a business because they can earn money from the practice.

Mardiana Maya Satrini from the MAHARANI Singkawang Integrated Service Center for Women\'s Empowerment and Child Protection said people\'s mindset that children were economic assets needed to be changed.

Assistant deputy for women\'s rights in the human trafficking department at the Women\'s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, Destri Handayani, said the government had intensively provided information to relevant parties about the modus operandi of human trafficking and its dangers. Supervision over the issuance of passports at immigration offices should also be tightened. (ESA/SON)