Immigration Directorate General Establishes Village-Level Ecosystem to Prevent Human Trafficking in Indonesia

The Directorate General of Immigration (Ditjen Imigrasi) has established a systematic human trafficking (TPPO) prevention ecosystem at critical points along Indonesian citizens’ (WNI) journeys, from villages to overseas. This was stated by Directorate General of Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko during a hearing with Commission XIII on TPPO at the Senayan Building in Jakarta on Monday, 25 May 2026. ‘We have established a systematic prevention ecosystem, beginning with pre-passport application, followed by the passport application process, immigration checkpoint departures, overseas passport applications, and when WNI return home,’ said Hendarsam. He added that the Directorate General of Immigration has formulated and implemented an action plan for TPPO prevention to mitigate risks this year. The strategy is being implemented through mapping high-risk villages for TPPO, followed by legal immigration education and outreach. He noted that these steps align with immigration authority under Article 89 of Law No. 6 of 2011 on Immigration. The Immigration Law mandates preventive and repressive measures to prevent human trafficking and smuggling (TPPM). Preventive measures include strengthening information-sharing cooperation with domestic and international stakeholders, providing legal education to the public, and ensuring the quality of travel documents issued. ‘Repressive measures are enforced through immigration investigations, administrative actions, and collaboration with other relevant agencies,’ he added. For upstream prevention, he explained that it involves multi-agency early detection synergy with the Foreigner Monitoring Team (Timpora), Transnational Organized Crime Task Force (TOC), and the Indonesia Migration Centre Forum (IACF). These steps have proven effective, with the Directorate General of Immigration apprehending hundreds of foreign nationals involved in cross-border crimes. ‘Additionally, we are optimising 885 Immigration-Guided Villages (DBI), each overseen by 446 village immigration officers (Pimpasa),’ he explained.