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Human Trafficking Rate in Indonesia Still High

The commitment of the Indonesian government in handling human trafficking is still considered to be low.

This can be seen from the amount of human trafficking victims that keep increasing every year.

As a result, Indonesia is threatened to be listed in Tier 3 by the US Department of State as a country that fails to handle human trafficking. The US Department of State, which focuses on human trafficking, rates a country as Tier 1 if it is considered as being capable of fighting trafficking.

The Tier 2 rating is given to a country that is committed to eradicate trafficking, while the Tier 2 Watch List is for countries with low commitment, and Tier 3 is for a country having a really poor commitment to handling trafficking.

The worst rankings have been given to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Laos, South Korea and Uzbekistan. According to Wahyu Susilo, Policy Analyst of Migrant Care, there were no improvements that Indonesia achieved during the last two years in wiping out human trafficking.

Therefore, in June last year, the US Department of State re-rated Indonesia to Tier 2 Watch List, although in 2004, Indonesia had been rated Tier 2. If the government cannot uphold the law, Wahyu said he was concerned that Indonesia's rate could degrade to Tier 3.

In addition, criminal laws and regulations on migrant workers were still weak so that they have mostly made matters worse for human trafficking victims. “Therefore, the House of Representatives must soon legalize the Law on Human Trafficking,” he said.

Sumarni Dawam Rahardjo, Deputy of Child Protection at the Department of Women’s Empowerment, denied that Indonesia was said as threatened to be rated Tier 3. “We have tried and showed our commitments,” she said.

Adapted from: Ninin Damayanti. "Human Trafficking Rate in Indonesia Still High." TEMPO Interactive. 15 January 2007.