Human Trafficking in Indonesia

Human Trafficking in Indonesia

 Researchers in sociology and criminology define human trafficking as the practice of abduction or trickery meant to capture people for predetermined exploitative reasons such as sex slavery and commercial gain. Human trafficking has plagued the social and economic prosperity of the modern society for decades. Since the end of the Second World War, many criminal groups and cartels have engaged in human trafficking for various reasons, of which the main one has been financial gain. Indonesia is one of the most heavily affected countries in the Asian region where thousands of people are abducted annually for human trafficking purposes. This paper investigates the social vice of human trafficking from the perspective of reasons, challenges and recommendations to combating human trafficking in Indonesia.

REASONS FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN INDONESIA

The most prevalent reason why human trafficking occurs in Indonesia is sex labor. The Asian continent is one of the largest human trafficking bases in the globe with more than three million humans trafficked annually for various reasons. Indonesia, which is an archipelago made up of thousands of islands, makes a perfect conduit for human traffickers to carry out their illegal activities in the cover of the islands and ocean (Ann Kumar 59). Most of the humans trafficked from as far as Africa usually are intended to fuel the child prostitution industry that plagues the country. The child prostitution industry has provided a demand for the human trafficking industry and itself is greatly supported by Indonesia’s booming tourism industry. Women and children trafficked in or through Indonesia are bought by pimps who place them in strategically placed buildings and brothels where clients pay to visit them. Humans trafficked through Indonesia for sexual exploitation purposes are transported to Australia, Japan, the United States, Europe, and South America.

The second main reason why human trafficking has taken root in Indonesia is slave labor. While slavery was abolished more than two hundred years ago, modern day slavery continues to flourish in parts of North African, Asian, and the Middle East. Due to the problems of slavery abolition, social distaste in the vice, and modern day legal structures, slave transportation is a big problem (Cusick 240). However, through human trafficking, the demand for slaves has continued being met. Initially, the victims are tricked into believing that they are destined for better fortunes in better countries, but upon arrival realize their new roles. Indonesia’s placement in the middle of major routes that support piracy and trafficking makes it a major conduit for slaves. In addition, the archipelago attracts a lot of business where human traffickers use the country’s ports and islands to transport human beings illegally for purposes associated with slave labor.

Some cultures in the Middle East and South Asia practice a form of punishment that involves selling the wrong-doer into slavery. This form of harsh punishment is reserved for people, especially youth and women, who have brought shame to the family or community. Some of the countries that continue to practice this form of backward punishment include Bangladesh, India, and Burma. Indonesia’s human trafficking criminal groups benefit from these unfortunate people and readily buy them off. After acquiring them, these Indonesian criminal groups traffic them into the West or other parts of Asia such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Another reason why Indonesia has featured greatly in modern vices of human trafficking is debt bondage. Debt bondage means bonding a person to work in undefined conditions for unspecified lengths of time in order to pay back a certain debt.  The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates the more than 8 million people are bonded in slavery currently (Cusick 236). Areas of South Asia such as Burma and Indonesia still subscribe to an ancient system where debts must not be paid back in monetary terms, but the debtors can submit themselves to the creditors for labor in order to repay them. However, various criminal groups and cartels have leveraged on the system and buy off the loan in order to gain ownership of the debtor’s servitude. In order to take advantage of this system, human traffickers in Indonesia buy off the loans and traffic the debtors as slaves to more lucrative markets in the Middle East and South America. Indonesia plays an integral role in this unique form of human trafficking.

PROBLEMS FACED BY INDONESIA IN CURBING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Indonesia faces several challenges in its fight to curb and even end human trafficking. The first main hurdle is weak legislation in the government with regards to labor and labor recruitment processes. The country has been challenged to enact tighter policies in the international strife to end modern day slavery and child prostitution but Indonesia continues to drag its feet.  Labor laws do not spell out the rights of immigrants and other vulnerable groups such as women in the country’s labor structure (Mitchell, et al. 19). Additionally, the laws governing registration and monitoring of job recruitment agencies are weak. Such weaknesses present human traffickers and cartels involved in child prostitution with loopholes that have continued to undermine the process of curbing human trafficking.

Corruption is an enemy of any initiative to stop criminal activity. Indonesia’s case with regard to human trafficking is no different as witnessed in the past few decades. The criminal groups and cartels involved with human trafficking activities pay off senior personnel in Indonesia’s port management, justice system, and even law enforcement agencies (Naibaho 89). Once corrupted, these important agencies are rendered useless in the government’s initiative to curb human trafficking as the execution machinery is broken. Additionally, these cartels also corrupt border control officials who turn a blind eye to the processes involved in trafficking containers that house dozens of illegal immigrants who may end up as slaves or sex providers.

The country of Indonesia is an archipelago consisting of thousands of islands in the Indian Ocean. Policing the large number of islands and the movement of people and cargo continues to be a major problem for the government of Indonesia which is still developing (Ann Kumar 59). Therefore, criminals, criminal groups, and cartels take advantage of the rugged Indonesian geography to traffic human beings for the purposes of sex slavery, debt bondage, and forced labor.

The size of some of the cartels involved means that the efforts of the Indonesian government in combating human trafficking remain insignificant. Some of the criminal groups involved in the vice within the archipelago have affiliations with the Yakuza of Japan and the Asian Triad. These are large international cartels that cannot be stopped by the efforts of a single country however dedicated or facilitated. Indonesia may need to enroll the international community in its efforts to curb human trafficking as some of the cartels involved are too large for its solutions and strategies.

Piracy is a common menace in the Indian Ocean affecting large swathes of open oceans from Somalia to the Indonesian and Papua New Guinea territorial waters. Due to the dangers these armed pirates pose, most law enforcement agencies and border patrol feel discouraged from confronting these pirates making them good couriers of contraband such as illegal human cargo (Naibaho 89). Piracy in the South Asian water has provided the cover that human traffickers need to continue in their illegal activities because these armed groups operate with ruthless lawlessness that discourage usually underequipped border control personnel.

RECOMMENDATIONS AT PLAY IN CURBING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN INDONESIA

While the international community has made many suggestions as recommendations for the government of Indonesia to combat human trafficking, most of them have failed. However, even with the government of Indonesia more involved in lip service that action, some of these recommendations have made great strides in the initiative to curb the vice. The first recommendation is additional laws to protect the rights of children against any form of employment or exploitation. Before these legislations were enacted, Indonesia’s labor law did not have structures to prevent children from working; a loophole that human traffickers capitalized on. Additionally, laws meant to protect children from sexual exploitation were weak (Cusick 230). However, the government has improved both sets of laws and the results include a significant reduction in the human trafficking menace in Indonesia.

Cooperation with neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Australia continues to be another effective solution that Indonesia uses to curb human trafficking. Through strategic and tactical cooperation, Indonesia’s port management and border control agencies liaise with those of these neighbors in order to check for contraband and other illegal cargo. The recommendations for additional cooperation with her neighbors have assisted Indonesia in policing her coastal islands and reducing the incidents of human trafficking.

CONCLUSION

Human trafficking has plagued the social and economic prosperity of the modern society for decades. Since the end of the Second World War, many criminal groups and cartels have engaged in human trafficking for various reasons, of which the main one has been financial gain. Indonesia is one of the most heavily affected countries in the Asian region where thousands of people are abducted annually for human trafficking purposes. This paper investigates the social vice of human trafficking from the perspective of Indonesia.

Indonesia has continued facing challenges in its fight against human trafficking. The most challenging of these hurdles include corruption, the size of the cartels, its geography as a large archipelago, and piracy in the India Ocean. While most of the recommendations offer temporary relief, some have shown great promise in eradicating the vice. Additional protection from child exploitation and employment is perhaps the most successful. Cooperation with her neighbors also provides Indonesia with the additional assistance she needs to curb human trafficking especially at her borders.

While Indonesia seems to be making strides towards curbing human trafficking, most people argue that the country is dragging its feet. However, the international community may have to understand the challenges the still developing archipelago faces in combating such as systematic problem. With the participation of international cartels, piracy, and corruption, Indonesia faces an increasingly uphill battle that the international community may not fully understand.

Works Cited

Ann Kumar. ““The Single Most Astonishing Fact of Human Geography”: Indonesia’s Far West Colony.” Indonesia, no. 92, 2011, p. 59.

Cusick, Linda. “Youth prostitution: a literature review.” Child Abuse Review, vol. 11, no. 4, 2002, pp. 230-251.

Mitchell, K. J., et al. “Conceptualizing Juvenile Prostitution as Child Maltreatment: Findings from the National Juvenile Prostitution Study.” Child Maltreatment, vol. 15, no. 1, 2009, pp. 18-36.

Naibaho, Nathalina. “Human Trafficking in Indonesia: Law Enforcement Problems.” Indonesia Law Review, vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, p. 83.