Jakarta – Although the central government has identified human trafficking as one of Indonesia's most serious problems, the trade continues to flourish here.
Arist Merdeka Sirait of the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) said that the situation was being aggravated by the way police treated the victims.
"Instead of taking a protective approach towards the victims, the police tend to humiliate them," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
"To eliminate this crime, we need to make an extra effort and involve all security institutions and the public," he said.
Indonesia is a hub for trafficking. Young local women are often hired under the pretense of overseas employment as domestic workers, only to end up in forced prostitution in Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Babies have also been sold internationally for illegal adoptions through "legitimate" children's institutions, Arist said.
"This is mostly caused by poor law enforcement. We need pro-active enforcers. The Indonesia Workers Service Company needs to be watched closely," he said. "The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry should be more careful because so far its monitoring has been weak. For example, it is against the law to send people under 18 to work abroad."
High rates of poverty and unemployment, along with low levels of education, have been blamed for the ease with which people in Indonesia are exploited.
"The law on child protection is used for those who violate children's rights while the Criminal Code is for women. We have drafted a bill, now in the hands of the House of Representatives, to really banish human trafficking in Indonesia. We are improving the criminal, protection, rehabilitation and repatriation aspects," said Muhammad Joni, a legal expert at Komnas PA.
He said transnational organized crime needed to be watched by international organizations too, otherwise national institutions would perform poorly.
"Other crimes, such as corruption, money laundering and terrorism, can be handled seriously. Why can't human trafficking cases be handled in a serious manner?" said Muhammad.
Meanwhile, monitoring group Indonesia Police Watch head Neta Pane said most of the data available about human trafficking was provided by non-governmental sources.
"That proves that our government is not serious enough about handling the issue," said Neta.
He added that poor and developing countries were easy targets for criminal organizations.
"The police alone, with their limited facilities and equipment, cannot handle these crimes. They need to collaborate with the Navy and immigration personnel," Neta said.
He said the National Police had succeeded in catching some of the people involved in trafficking, but that the bosses often evaded arrest.