Jakarta Police Foils Departure of 34 Illegal Migrant Workers

Jakarta, Jan 16 (Antara) - Jakarta Special Criminal Police foiled the departure plans of 34 illegal migrant workers who will now be placed in Saudi Arabia. "The Special Criminal Police successfully foiled the departure of migrant workers who broke the law. Three suspects initialed LK, K and AAS were arrested while SBR and AF managed to flee," the Spokesman of Jakarta Police Senior Commisioner Rikwanto stated in Jakarta on Thursday. According to Rikwanto, LK's role was to recruit migrant workers, while K escorted them to pass through at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with several documents for an overseas worker such as card, passport, insurance card, visa, ticket and others. Meanwhile, AAS contributed in the process by providing accommodation and by dispatching the migrant workers without an official process. "The team from the Third Unit of Special Criminal Police found some migrant workers who wanted to go to Abu Dhabi, during the check in at Terminal 2 D International Departures of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Friday (Jan. 1) around 6 p.m. local time. They were accompanied by K to help pass through," he explained. Police seized 21 documents, including 21 passports, insurance cards, employment agreements, visa, 17 airplane tickets, a letter of assignment and a letter of recommendation. "The officers found forged documents to be used as overseas worker cards. Upon a verification of the Indonesian National Board of Placement and Protection of Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), officers of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the overseas worker cards were not listed and the stamps on their passports were not from BNP2TKI," Rikwanto stated. One of the migrant workers informed the police that there were 13 migrant workers accommodated in AAS's house, located at Gunung Putri District, Bogor. On Monday (Jan. 6) at 20:30 p.m., the police found the 13 migrant workers in the house. "They were charged under Article 102 Paragraph (1) Letter a under Law Number 39 of 2004 on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, attracting an imprisonment of a minimum of two years and a maximum of 10 years or a fine of anything between Rp2 billion and Rp15 billion. They were also charged under Article 103 Paragraph 1," he pointed out. Reporting by Azis Kurmala. (*)