TKIs sold as sex slaves in Kalimantan

TKIs sold as sex slaves in Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post, Nunukan, East Kalimantan, Jakarta

The plight of illegal Indonesian workers deported from Malaysia
took a new turn on Friday with the finding that some 25 girls,
mostly from Java, had been forced into becoming sex workers in
Tawau, East Malaysia.

The prostitution ring was uncovered after some of the girls
ran away from their workplace and took refuge at the Consulate of
Indonesia in Tawau two weeks ago.

The girls said they were initially promised by agents to
become waitresses at restaurants in Tarakan and Malaysia.

They have returned to Indonesia, with 13 arriving in the East
Kalimantan town of Nunukan on Friday. They were immediately put
under police protection.

The rest have been sent to their respective hometowns.

Chief of Nunukan Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Antonang said the
police could not make any arrests as the case took place in
Malaysia, but he said the provincial police would coordinate with
officers in East Java and South Sulawesi to trace the syndicates
involved in women trafficking.

Antara reported that one of the girls, who is 17, said she was
initially offered by Suwarno, whom she met in Surabaya, to work
as a waitress in Kalimantan, and she would receive a high salary.

"I had no idea that I was being brought to Tawau to be forced
into becoming a sex worker," she said.

The girls, all under 20 years of age, said they were treated
poorly by their employers, who also seized their belongings and
banned them from walking outside their workplace.

The girls were sold by Indonesian agents for about 1,000
ringgit to their employers in Malaysia.

Some 200 more workers were moved to modest barracks in
Mambunut camp ground just near the seashore.

There are over 55 barracks built to accommodate thousands of
illegal workers and their families in Mambunut, but only 40
percent of the barracks are ready for use. Another 25 are being
constructed at the Sedadap campground.

Each building, which has walls made of wood, is 40 square
meters in size. It can accommodate 50 people.

With no proper toilets, the workers have to use the seashore,
raising fear of water pollution.

In addition to the poor conditions, the workers are exposed to
disease as the barracks become flooded during heavy rain.

As of Thursday, 26 people had been treated at Nunukan
community health center for various health problems, mostly
diarrhea. One of the patients, Jabir Muhammad, 50, of South
Sulawesi, died from a respiratory tract infection on Thursday.

The government has sent a mobile hospital on board the KRI
Tanjung Kambani, but until Friday evening the warship had not
arrived in Nunukan.

In Jakarta, Vice President Hamzah Haz said that the current
migrant workers' plight was a result of the government's
ignorance.

"In the Philippines, the government considers these workers as
formal workers who contribute to the state revenue. We have never
done that for our workers," he said.

Hamzah said that the current crisis should be the right time
for Indonesia to improve the whole system of migrant workers.

"We have to find comprehensive ways to handle the issue to
ensure that it will not recur," he said.

Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare Jusuf Kalla said
that he had made sure that the health facilities in Nunukan would
be able to properly serve the deported workers.