Advist Khoirunikmah (Antara), Jakarta – The Indonesian police headquarters uncovered a case of alleged human trafficking by sending students to Germany for internships through the Fereinjob program. A total of 1,047 students are suspected of being victims of human trafficking.
The police discovered the case when four students, who were participating in the Fereinjob program, visited the German Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) to file a report.
"After conducting a thorough investigation, the results of the Indonesian Embassy's inquiry revealed that this program was run by 33 universities in Indonesia," Brig. Gen. Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro, director of general crimes at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), said on March 20.
Djuhandhani said the students were briefed by CV. GEN and PT. SHB. They had to pay Rp150,000 for registration and 150 euros for a LOA (letter of acceptance). The students also have to pay a bailout fund of Rp30 million to Rp50 million, which is deducted from their salaries every month.
Upon arrival in Germany, PT SHB gave the students employment letters in German to be registered with the German Ministry of Labor. The victims were asked to go through Fereinjob program for 3 months from October 2023 to December 2023.
PT SHB cooperates with universities and claims that the Fereinjob program is included in the Independent Learning-Free Campus (Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka/MBKM) program. They also promise an internship program that can be converted into 20 credits.
The police have named five people as suspects in the case, all of whom are Indonesian citizens (WNI). "Two people are living in Germany," Djuhandhani said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Culture denied that the internship in Germany was part of the MBKM program. The ministry said that PT SHB had applied for a permit for the program, but it was rejected because it did not follow the procedures, namely through the Indonesian or German embassy.
The Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) reminds the public that universities and educational institutions are not allowed to send interns abroad. BP2MI head Benny Rhamdani said that internship programs are often used by companies as a way to find low-wage workers. Many interns are also recruited in ways that do not follow legal procedures.
Benny stressed that sending workers abroad can only be done by the Indonesian Migrant Worker Placement Company (P3MI) for the private sector, not by universities and or educational institutions.