Police rescue 13 women in North Sumatra

Police rescue 13 women in North Sumatra

The Jakarta Post, Medan/Bandung/Kupang

Police officers in Medan, North Sumatra, claimed on Wednesday
that they had rescued 13 women seeking work in Malaysia, who had
been locked up by labor recruitment agency PT Bagus Bersaudara
for two weeks at its office on Jl. Danau Limboto.

The women from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province were freed
after their families, who had not heard from them for two weeks,
contacted the police.

The incident happened only days after the case of Nirmala
Bonat, an Indonesian maid from NTT abused by her Malaysian
employee, made headlines in the national media.

Chief of Medan Police detectives Adj. Comr. Maruli Siahaan
said that the police had questioned the 13 women, and learned
that there were 25 other women from NTT still locked up at
another location.

"Police have deployed a team to track down the women and the
management of the labor recruitment agency," said Maruli.

The police personnel broke through a door on Wednesday at the
company's office to release the 13 women, while no one
representing the company was found there.

Maruli also said that the police were also investigating the
possibility that the women were to be sold into prostitution in
Malaysia.

During police questioning, the women recalled that they
arrived two weeks ago in Medan, after being offered work by Joni,
a staffer at PT Bagus Bersaudara, who promised them work in
amusement centers in Malaysia.

But, they suspected something fishy after they were locked up
by the company in its office on Jl. Limboto and prevented from
leaving.

"We are afraid that in the end, we would be sold as
prostitutes in Malaysia," said Meri Kila, one of the women.

Meanwhile, the 13 women arrived home on Wednesday afternoon
after being questioned by police investigators in Medan.

They were flown home on a Batavia Air flight and arrived in
Kupang at 7 p.m.

Chief of the general crime division at East Nusa Tenggara
Provincial Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Wijanarko said police
investigators here would look into whether they had been
recruited illegally by labor recruitment agency PT Akbar Insan
Prima in NTT.

It would also probe the connection between PT Akbar Insan
Prima and PT Bagus Bersaudara in the case.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Association of Labor Recruitment
Agency's (APJTKI) East Nusa Tenggara chapter, Abraham Liyanto,
said that PT Akbar Insan Prima was not registered with the
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and therefore was
illegal.

Separately, an official with the West Java provincial
administration said on the same day that at least 73 Indonesian
migrant workers from West Java had been stranded at the
Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia for several months.

Thirty-four of the total 73 migrant workers, all of them
women, are being questioned by Malaysian Police for allegedly
working as sex workers.

Of the remaining 39 men and women housed by the embassy, some
do not have proper documents, while others are in poor health.

Sukarto Karnen, the head of West Java provincial
administration's manpower office said that he received the
information from the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia, which
admitted that it lacked funds to bring the workers home.

In a letter sent to the manpower office recently, the
Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia sought assistance to bring them
home, said Sukarto.