Foreign sex workers `flood' Batam city
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau
Commercial sex workers from various countries -- including China, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Russia and Singapore -- have been exposed operating openly in Batam hotels, a councillor has observed.
Syamsuri, the chairman of Commission A on Law and Regulations, expressed concern that the flood of foreign commercial sex workers into Batam could increase the number of people infected with Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS) in the area.
"It must be stopped. The Batam immigration, police and social agency must step up efforts to detect, identify and capture the sex workers and then deport them," Syamsuri, a retired police commissioner, told The Jakarta Post.
Syamsuri said that the influx of foreign commercial sex workers in Batam was attributed to the tighter legal measures imposed on the industry by authorities in neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore.
"Due to stricter enforcement in Singapore and Malaysia, they have decided to enter the Batam market. Batam has a large market for this with some 2,000 expatriates working here currently," said Syamsuri.
He added that the foreign sex workers targeted the expatriates as their clients, as most were highly paid, and often away from their partners for long periods.
According to recent data uncovered, the foreign sex workers are paid between US$200 and US$500 for their services, he said. Far more costly than local sex workers, who charge between Rp 200,000 (US$25) and Rp 300,000 for similar services.
Meanwhile, local officials admitted that they knew of the foreign sex workers in Batam.
"But, it is very difficult to arrest them, because it will cost a lot of money and time to investigate and collect evidence that the foreigners are really involved in prostitution in Batam.
We don't have the money," complained Binsar Panjaitan, the head of Supervision and Law Enforcement at the Batam Immigration Office.
Meanwhile, the deputy chief of Batam police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Heru Winarko said that the Batam police were ready to cooperate with Batam Immigration and Social Offices, to raid the hotels in Batam suspected of allowing the foreign sex workers to operate.