Protection Against Human Trafficking Must Be Integrated to Address Drug Trafficking

The case must serve as a momentum to integrate the perspective of human trafficking protection in handling dark trade narcotics cases involving women. Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) views the case of Asih, an Indonesian migrant worker in Malaysia, as a momentum to immediately integrate the perspective of human trafficking protection in handling dark trade narcotics cases involving women. “This case must become a momentum to immediately integrate the perspective of human trafficking protection in every handling of dark trade narcotics cases involving women, and to strengthen diplomatic protection before the threat of execution arrives,” said Komnas Perempuan member Yuni Asriyanti when confirmed in Jakarta on Saturday. Komnas Perempuan welcomes the return of Asih, the Indonesian migrant worker (PMI) in Malaysia who was once threatened with the death penalty. Komnas Perempuan member Sundari Waris added that the victim’s return is the fruit of long cross-country human rights advocacy work. Komnas Perempuan itself had previously received a complaint from the case’s companion and submitted a recommendation letter to relevant parties as part of the defence of women facing the death penalty abroad. According to her, the case experienced by Asih is a reflection of the layered vulnerabilities faced by women. “How women with limited economic backgrounds have vulnerabilities to being deceived with promises of work, manipulated by human trafficking networks, and at the peak bear a disproportionate punishment burden for narcotics crimes that actually place them as victims, not perpetrators,” she said. Komnas Perempuan reminds that Indonesia is bound by several international legal instruments that should serve as real guides in handling cases like Asih’s. She stated that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) affirms the state’s obligation to ensure that the criminal justice system does not operate discriminatorily against women, especially those facing layered vulnerabilities. “The Palermo Protocol has long affirmed a principle that must not be ignored, that women who become victims of human trafficking should not be punished for actions born from exploitative situations they did not choose themselves,” she added.