E. Kalimantan cities seen as gateways for trafficking

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 11/10/2007 5:29 PM

Nurni Sulaiman and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post, Balikpapan, Jambi

Tarakan and Nunukan are the two East Kalimantan cities most likely to be used as gateways for human trafficking because of their proximity to Tawau, a ferry port in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, a high-ranking police officer said.

""Nunukan and Tarakan are two border areas close to Tawau, and most of the illegal migrants cross over from these two cities by ferry,"" East Kalimantan Police spokesman Wayan Tjatra told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Nunukan recorded a higher incidence of human trafficking than Tarakan. As of November this year, police in Nunukan had uncovered nine cases involving 11 victims between the ages of 15 and 22.

Three of the victims, Risa, 16, Warianti, 22, and Sriyanti, 17, all from South Sulawesi, became suspicious while still in Nunukan after being told they were not allowed to leave the house and heard they would be sold in Tawau using fake border passes.

They ran away and reported the incident to police.

Maryati, and Maria, both 19, Yunita, 17, and Musyarofah, 20, were not as fortunate. A human trafficking syndicate smuggled them into Tawau, where they were sold as sex workers.

The syndicate initially told them they would work as shop assistants in East Kalimantan.

More than 30 similar cases have been reported in Tarakan and Nunukan since 2005.

A person can ferry to Tawau from either city for Rp 250,000 (approximately US$27.70). From Tawau, he or she can continue overland to almost any city in eastern Malaysia.

According to Wayan, human trafficking activities are difficult to monitor due to the close-knit nature of the trafficking syndicate and the relatively simple procedures necessary to obtain border passes.

Police have identified 15 suspects involved in nine trafficking cases, but four of them are still at large.

The East Kalimantan Police say they will assign more officers to its posts in Tarakan and Nunukan to combat the problem.

Separately, the Jambi City Police, in Sumatra's Jambi province, took into custody two individuals suspected of human trafficking.

The men were identified as Bambang, 40, and Hadi, 45. They allegedly tried to smuggle 103 Indonesian workers to Malaysia.

""They were both arrested in Jambi on Oct. 31 when they were about to send 103 illegal migrant workers from Jember, Tuban and Madura Island in East Java, to Malaysia. The workers -- 51 women and 52 men -- all returned to their homes on Nov. 2,"" Jambi City Police chief Sr. Comr. E Daniyanto said.

The suspects have been placed under city arrest.

""We have not detained them in our prison because they have promised not to flee. Both suspects have also been cooperative during the investigation,"" he said.

Both suspects confessed to sending illegal workers abroad on a regular basis, he added.

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