Fighting Human Trafficking
Through weaving, a group of local women in South Central Timor regency, East Nusa Tenggara, fights human trafficking. Meanwhile, in Indramayu, education is key in the fight.
A rocky and uphill road leads to the homes of a group of women weavers in the Indonesian Migrant Workers Association (Kabar Bumi), in Tuppan village, Batu Putih district, South-Central Timor regency. They are committed to fighting human trafficking through their woven crafts.
"Nowadays, we don\'t allow our children to go to Malaysia. In Kabar Bumi, we share our experiences of joy and sorrow in Malaysia. Our children must not go to Malaysia," said weaver Fransina, 49, in an interview in early July.
Fransina is one of four former migrant workers in Tuppan village who currently weaves to earn a living. All four used to work as maids in Malaysia.
Lessons
The tragic incident that happened to Yufrinda Selan, a local teenager, is enough as a lesson. Yufrinda was the victim of middlemen\'s lies. She was brought home from Malaysia in a coffin. When her family retrieved her body, they found rope marks on her neck.
"So many have died. There are so many problems. Local nona [ladies] no longer merantau [go far to make a living]," Fransina said.
Yufrinda\'s mother, Yuliana, 46, said she never knew about Yufrinda\'s plan to go to Malaysia. At the time, she said, Yufrinda had decided to drop out of a vocational high school (SMK) for a week. She was only 16. Yuliana said Yufrinda did not want to burden her parents. Yufrinda\'s father, Metusalak Selan, 48, said Yufrinda had been tempted to go to Malaysia by deceitful lies. It all began when she went out with Yasmin, 18, a young man from a neighboring village who worked as a middleman for migrant workers. Yufrinda departed to Malaysia without her parents\' permission. At the time, Metusalak thought Yulinda had run away to a relative\'s home in Kupang. Metusalak stayed in Kupang for three months to search for his daughter while also
working as a construction worker. However, he failed to find his daughter. Only eight months since she went missing on July 11, 2016, Yufrinda\'s lifeless body was returned home. In the death certificate issued by the Malaysian government, Yufrinda was identified as Melinda Sapay, 22, who died from hanging.
Empowered
Yufrinda\'s body was returned home with help from the Timor Evangelical Church (GMIT). Thanks to the activism of antihuman trafficking activists in East Nusa Tenggara, many of whom are members of GMIT and the Catholic Church, Yufrinda\'s death led to a court case on human trafficking. At least 15 individuals involved in sending Yufrinda to Malaysia received sentences at the Kupang District Court. Metusalak said the perpetrators were also ordered to pay Rp 195 million (US$13,908.75) in restitution to the family.
Priest and GMIT representative Emmy Sahertian said the investigation into the human trafficking network that ensnared Yufrinda drained the energy of everyone involved as there were rounds of questioning by the police and at the court. At the same time, new cases of human trafficking of illegal migrant workers were found every week in East Nusa Tenggara.
"From there, we began encouraging Pak Metusalak to be an agent of change. We urged him to ask locals to empower themselves so that they will no longer be tempted to work as migrant workers. Former migrant workers in Kabar Bumi are involved," Emmy said. Meanwhile, in Indramayu, West Java, where human trafficking persists, tough challenges lie ahead in the fight against the heinous crime. The youths are leaving behind agricultural work while industries stagnate. As a result, many local youths are looking elsewhere for work. Meanwhile, recruiters of illegal migrant workers roam the village.
Campaign
In early July, the Indramayu Police uncovered a case of children being exploited as "entertainers" at a cafe in Bekasi, West Java. From the cafe, the police rescued 10 children from Indramayu and nine from Purwakarta, aged 12 to 17.
Child trafficking cases like this urged the Indramayu-based Kusuma Bongas Foundation to launch an educational campaign on the dangers of human trafficking in 2000. The campaign includes educating locals on the possible side effects of activities linked to human trafficking, such as HIV/AIDS infection in the sex trade. The foundation\'s HIV counselor, Sulistiani Andan Dewi, 29, routinely holds campaigns on the dangers of unsafe sex and HIV/AIDS infection at schools in Bongas district. She said that, nowadays, only a few women in Bongas district contracted HIV/AIDS from working outside of Indramayu. (SPW/ADY/MDN)