This article was written by three academics from the Master’s Program in Development Studies, except for the section updating the number of human trafficking victims in 2022, which was taken from Narasi TV.
The issue of human trafficking in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is not yet resolved. Every year, NTT faces this humanitarian issue, and in fact, NTT is the region with the highest number of human trafficking cases in Indonesia. The numerous cases of human trafficking disguised as the sending of Indonesian migrant workers indicate the presence of human trafficking crimes by organized crime syndicates.
According to this article published in 2018, there are 1.3 million Indonesian migrant workers abroad. Every year, authorities deport 19,000 migrant workers to their home regions due to their lack of official documents. In 2014, out of 1,021 people handled by authorities, 605 were suspected of being victims of human trafficking. In 2015, authorities identified 468 out of 1004 handled individuals as victims of human trafficking. And in 2016, there were 54 corpses of Indonesian migrant workers received with false addressesat the El Tari cargo terminal in Kupang, one of the districts in NTT. According to the latest data from Narasi TV, that, on average, there are two corpses arriving in NTT every day who are victims of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that arises from the degradation of human moral, spiritual, mental, and character values. Generally, victims are promised attractive jobs as storekeepers or household assistants, but then they are forced into torturous work, child labor, dancers, or even prostitution. There have even been selling babies or killing victims for their organs.
There are two categories of crimes for Indonesian migrant workers cases, namely human trafficking (TPPO) and people smuggling (TPPM). The difference between TPPO and TPPM lies in the methods and objectives, as well as the consequences of the penalties received. TPPO perpetrators use methods of violence, coercion, kidnapping, confinement, and so on, whereas TPPM perpetrators do not use violence or coercion. The profit of TPPO is obtained from exploiting victims, whereas the profit of TPPM comes from an agreement between the perpetrators and the smuggling victims. The legal consequences for perpetrators of TPPO are in accordance with Article 2 of Law No. 21 of 2007, which imprisoned 3-15 years and fine IDR 120-600 million. The legal consequences for TPPM perpetrators according to Article 120, paragraph 1 of Law Number 6 of 2011 are imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years and/or a fine of up to IDR 200 million.