Three of the 131 Myanmar nationals who were victims in a slavery and human trafficking case in Benjina Island, Maluku, and who were planning to return to Myanmar today, have disappeared. The local police and immigration personnel are searching for the three men.

The Myanmar nationals, who allegedly were enslaved by PT Pusaka Benjina Resources, one of the biggest seafood firms in eastern Indonesia, were temporarily accommodated at the Nusantara fishing port in Tual under the supervision of the immigration office.

The head of the Tual Immigration Office, Rudiara Kosasih, quickly rebuffed the news that the three people had disappeared.

'€œThey did not escape. They just happen not to be there,'€ he said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.

'€œI don'€™t know,'€ Rudiara said when journalists asked him where the three people were. He refused to answer further questions when journalists met him at Pattimura airport in Ambon, Maluku.

'€œPlease ask the police,'€ he said, refusing to comment further.