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View all search resultsBatam Church highlights human trafficking as more Indonesians deported
The root cause of the high number of illegal migrant workers and human trafficking is that the government is still trapped working in the “downstream” instead of solving “upstream” problems.
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Acting Batam Mayor Li Claudia Chandra (center) cuts a ribbon on May 29, flanked by representatives of the Catholic Church, to officiate the headquarters of Caritas Sentrum in Batam city, Riau Islands. Caritas Sentrum, a center under the Indonesian Catholic Church, provides vocational training and assistance for migrant workers and human trafficking victims. (Batam City Administration/-)
T
he Catholic Church in Batam highlighted the government’s handling of human trafficking in the area, including recruitment of illegal migrant workers and the socio-economic conditions that amplify the issue.
Santa Theresia Shelter director, Rev. Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, said that the root cause of the high number of illegal migrant workers and human trafficking was the government is still trapped working in the “downstream” instead of solving “upstream” problems.
“Tightening the border and increasing deportation only solves the effects, without cutting the chains of recruitment, distributor networks, syndicates and socio-economic factors forcing the public to remain vulnerable for recruitment,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
“There are legal instruments but there is no budgetary policy, control and evaluation mechanism.”
He said that the current interagency capacity and coordination is still insufficient to face transnational criminal syndicates, which are getting more organized digitally.
Paschalis deemed the presence of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Ministry (P2MI) as important, but it has not automatically solved the root causes of migration in migrant workers’ regions of origin, such as Aceh, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
He pushed Indonesia to create a strong coordination and control role directly under the President with real authorities to force all ministries and regional administrations to be responsible.
