Extortion on migrants on the increase<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Homeward-bound migrant workers have long been victims of robbery
\nand extortion, but it's only recently that the Jakarta Police
\nsounded the alarm due to the rising toll.<\/p>\n
Sr. Comr. Oegroseno, head of operations bureau at the Jakarta
\nPolice, voiced concern about the increase in robberies targeting
\nmigrant workers.<\/p>\n
\"I haven't come up with the final data on the number of
\nrobberies targeting migrant workers this year, but there is
\ncertainly an increase in reports on such cases,\" he said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
He said his bureau received crime reports from police stations
\nand analyzed crime trends.<\/p>\n
\"There is one substation in West Jakarta that has received 15
\nreports on robberies targeting migrant workers this year. The
\nnumber is quite high for the subprecinct level,\" he revealed.<\/p>\n
The first such case reported at Tamansari Police station, West
\nJakarta, was on Aug. 21 when a male migrant worker was found
\nunconscious in a hotel room.<\/p>\n
The worker later told the police that he had been picked up by
\nmen who claimed to come from the same town as he in Cilacap,
\nCentral Java, upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International
\nAirport from Taiwan.<\/p>\n
He followed them to the hotel, where he was drugged and robbed
\nof all his valuables, including Rp 1.7 million (US$179) in cash.<\/p>\n
\"The latest case reported at the same police substation was on
\nOct. 27,\" Oegroseno said. \"When I visited the victim at Soekanto
\nPolice Hospital in Kramat Jati, he was still in a dazed state.\"<\/p>\n
He said the same method was applied to the victim, who had
\nalso just arrived from Taiwan.<\/p>\n
\"Had we not scrutinized the robbery reports, we would not have
\nknown about the trend in which the workers are easy targets. The
\nsubstations reported robberies to us, but they did not help us
\npinpoint the new trend,\" he added.<\/p>\n
\"Worse still, not a single robbery suspect has been named ...
\nThe detectives were probably not serious in investigating such
\ncrimes because the victims were migrant workers, who did not have
\nstrong bargaining positions.\"<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Police, he said, should respond quickly to any
\nincreasing trend, and should formulate new \"therapy\" to tackle
\nthe problems.<\/p>\n
\"I think we need police detectives who specialize in
\nparticular crimes. For example, it would be best if we had
\ndetectives who focused on migrant worker robberies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Against the growing rate of crime, independent watchdog Police
\nWatch released a report in July showing the police force scoring
\nlow in crime resolution.<\/p>\n
The report stated that between July 2003 and May 2004, 20,904
\nreports were filed by members of the public, of which police had
\nonly solved 19.3 percent.<\/p>",
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