At least 22 women who were recently rescued from a human trafficking network in West Lombok have been placed in three shelters by the provincial social service and civil registration office in Mataram.

“The victims, mostly underage and from West Java, Sumatra and East Nusa Tenggara, were forced to work as waitresses and singing partners in a number of cafes and karaoke parlors in the Senggigi tourist resort area,” Bachruddin, head of the social service and civil registration office, said.

Bachruddin said that the 22 women were rescued from a human trafficking network by police in several operations.

“We’ve accommodated them for one-to-two months on average, but they cannot be sent home yet as they have to act as witnesses in court,” he said, adding that his office had informed the victim’s families of their whereabouts.

“They will be sent home after testifying in court.”

Bachruddin explained that the victims were lured to work in tourist sites in Lombok with the promise of high pay.

Five of the 22 victims, accompanied by an advocacy team, went to the APIK Legal Aid Institute (LBH APIK) in Mataram on Wednesday, to urge the police to settle the cases as soon as possible.

“Even though human trafficking activities are rampant in the Senggigi resort area, the police

usually deal with the perpetrators using only the law on child protection and not Law No. 21/2007 on human trafficking,” Tonny Hoban, the coordinator of the advocacy team, said.

Since uncovering the case, the police have yet to detain any managers of the entertainment centers where the women were rescued. “This is because the police named the suspects under the law on child protection,” he said.

If the police applied the law on human trafficking, it would be easier for them to arrest more perpetrators by simply using testimony from the victims. The application of the same law would also enable the victims to receive compensation.

“We will meet the West Nusa Tenggara Police chief and ask him to pay closer attention to the problem,” Tonny said.

Tonny, who is also the coordinator of child law and protection at LHB APIK, said that his office last year provided advocacy for 57 human trafficking victims, of whom 27 were underage.

One of the victims, identified only as Ay, 16, said she came to Lombok on the invitation of a woman named Teh Nining in November last year.

“Teh Nining asked permission from my parents, convincing them that I would earn good wages so I was allowed to go,” the girl, who also worked as a street singer in Karawang, West Java, said

She said that she only worked for one week at the café in Senggigi before the police raided the café.

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