Batam leads antihuman-trafficking campaign
Fadli and Ridwan Max Sijabat Batam/Jakarta
The government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) launched on Tuesday an all-out campaign to put an end to the widespread commercial sexual exploitation of children and women on Batam island.
The campaign was kicked off during the opening ceremony of a national conference in Batam to identify commitments and ramp up efforts by key government officials and activists to fight against the problem both on the island and the rest of Indonesia.
The two-day conference was organized by the government with the support of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) as a follow up on the fight against transnational crimes, which was recommended at the sixth East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Meeting in Bali last May.
According to UNICEF, human trafficking is rampant in Indonesia, largely due to the tens of millions of people mired in poverty.
Batam borders Singapore and has become a destination for tourists and gamblers from that country, as well as Malaysians and Thais, who come for weekend trips. It has also become a major transit point for women being smuggled to the neighboring countries and the Middle East.
An official from the women's empowerment ministry, Karlini Kasri, who opened the conference, expressed confidence that Batam could be at the forefront of the nationwide campaign.
"I'm confident that Batam will take the lead and will make significant progress to put a stop to the intolerable practice of trafficking children for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation," she said.
Local NGOs concurred, saying that Batam was now a full-blown destination/transit point that involved well-organized networks who "trade" some 300 women and children every week, some overseas, but many more within Batam itself. According to their modus operandi, the victims, mostly from Sumatra, Java and West Nusa Tenggara, were officially given titles such as masseuses and servants in star-rated hotels, entertainment centers, nightclubs and gambling centers on the island.
Many workers have stayed and worked permanently because they have found it easier to earn money than in the rest of Indonesia, but many others, with the help of international gangs, moved to Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Middle East to earn higher salaries.
Maya Manurung, an activist in Medan, North Sumatra, said over the weekend human trafficking had reached an alarming level since an average of around 22,000 women and children were now being trafficked annually for commercial sexual exploitation both at home and overseas.
During the ceremony, Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir expected the local police to check and recheck all people migrating to Batam and those who were going overseas through the island, the Court to give harsher punishment against human traffickers and NGOs to be disseminate information on the crimes.
Nurlini said that after Batam, Bali would follow suit because the trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation to the island was no less serious than Batam.