Police warn jobseekers of dishonest brokers

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 11/09/2007 5:24 PM  |  National

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The Bali Police have warned jobseekers to be cautious of illegal labor agencies promising job opportunities abroad, saying the agencies could be linked to a human trafficking syndicate.

""We need to warn the public so it will not easily fall prey to illegal migrant worker agencies,"" Bali Police general crime unit deputy chief, Sr. Comr. Erwin Chahara Rusmana, said Thursday.

""We see the public has little awareness of such crimes.""

The police recently arrested JH, 36, an illegal labor supplier who is believed to have operated in Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara. He was arrested for allegedly scamming 13 Balinese workers he promised jobs in South Korea.

""We arrested him at his house... in Denpasar on November 4th,"" Erwin said.

The arrest was made based on a report by of one of the alleged victims, I Nyoman Biana, 32, a high school graduate who works for a private company in Denpasar. Erwin said each of the workers had given JH Rp 35 million (about US$3,888) to work in South Korea.

JH provided them with visas to South Korea and air tickets to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 5.

""They were asked to stay in a hotel in Bangkok. JH then told them that he needed to go to the toilet and never returned,"" Erwin said, adding that ""it was lucky he had also provided them with return tickets"".

He said some of the alleged victims were skilled workers who were promised work as mechanics in South Korea.

The police believe many have fallen victim to similar scams but are reluctant to report their cases.

""We will investigate to see if there were other victims prior to this group,"" Erwin said.

Bali Police spokeswoman Sri Harmiti said eight people had recently filed police reports after allegedly being scammed by MTP, 44, and AB, 43, from CV Lintas Indonesia, a migrant labor agency based in Badung regency. They claimed the agency swindled Rp 1.7 billion from 78 Balinese jobseekers.

Erwin said the case had been transferred to the Denpasar Prosecutor's office.

""We encourage victims of the company who have not reported their cases to come to the police,"" he said.

The two suspects turned themselves in to the police in August. CV Lintas Indonesia reportedly asked their victims to pay between Rp 35 million and Rp 55 million to work overseas, including Malaysia. Workers were given training in Cilandak, Jakarta and Malang, East Java.

But the company never sent them abroad.

To avoid this sort of crime, Erwin said, jobseekers wishing to work abroad should make sure the agency provides them with a work visa instead of a tourist visa, and that it doesn't change home addresses in the travel documents.

""Oftentimes workers are unaware they are given tourist visas,"" Erwin said.

He said inexperienced and unskilled workers could easily fall victim to human traffickers.

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