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ocal NGOs in Greater Manggarai and Flores have been busy providing counseling and training for women in the region so they will not be easily lured into becoming migrant workers overseas.

'€œWe found women'€™s issues in the Greater Manggarai area, such as the presence of an illegal migrant worker placement company that has sent as many as 100 young women overseas. This is a serious issue, which should be addressed by every party,'€ Greater Manggarai Migration Community (KMMR) head Katarina Supatmiyati told The Jakarta Post in Manggarai regional capital Ruteng recently.

She said that many Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) from the Greater Manggarai area and Flores Island lacked the official documents.

According to her, the gateway areas for sending TKIs and underage girls overseas are Labuan Bajo in West Manggarai regency, and Maumere in Sikka regency.

On the other hand, she continued, many women suffer after being left behind by their husbands who go abroad as migrant workers.

As part of the solution, Katarina said her community had provided counseling and empowerment training in Papang and Todo villages for young women and the wives of migrant workers and their children.

The KMMR chooses to focus on women and children, in order to improve their quality of life.

Separately, director of the Komodo Indonesia Lestari Foundation (Yakines) in West Manggarai, Gabriela Uran, said human trafficking in the Greater Manggarai area could be attributed to the low human resource development of women, as the region still lacked business training programs.

'€œOur institution has provided counseling and training to women, from village to village, by applying the Greater Manggarai cultural approach,'€ Gabriela said.

Pastor Robert Mirsel, a researcher at Chandraditya Research Center for the Study of Religion and Culture, also expressed his concern over the issue.

'€œTraining programs are needed for the sake of providing quality graduates. Only between 30 percent and 40 percent of senior high school graduates in Greater Manggarai continue their studies to universities,'€ Robert said.

Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, a researcher from Baku Peduli in Greater Manggarai, said the lack of job opportunities in the region had caused senior high school and university graduates to migrate and seek work overseas or on other islands in Indonesia. Thousand of them are unemployed due to their lack of entrepreneurial skills.

'€œWe record thousands of senior high school and university graduates every year. The number of people who are educated but unemployed in the region is estimated at around 12,000,'€ Cypri said.

Meanwhile, Pastor Marthen Chen from the Ruteng Diocese Pastoral Center said churches should also initiate counseling programs for residents, while government agencies must develop creative programs on topics such as organic farming, plantations and other economic activities.