February 21, 2025 | 10:18 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The director of Citizen Protection at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha, said approximately 270 Indonesian migrant workers remain trapped in Myanmar. The evacuation is complicated, as the Myanmar government has yet to be able to control human trafficking in its territory.
"We advise people not to be easily tempted when given the offer to work easy jobs with high wages," said Judha at Soekarno Hatta Airport, Jakarta, on Thursday night, February 20, 2025.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just repatriated 46 Indonesian migrant workers who were victims of human trafficking in border town Myawaddy, Myanmar. The dozens of Indonesian citizens were initially brought to Bangkok, Thailand, before returning to Indonesia through two flights. The first group arrived around 11:00 p.m. yesterday, while the second group arrived an hour later.
Judha ensured the ministry is working with Thai and Myanmar authorities to repatriate Indonesian citizens trapped in the country. Most of them come from Jakarta, West Java, and Sulawesi.
The repatriated citizens are taken to a trauma center owned by the ministry for mental and physical examinations. They are also questioned by the police to recheck their identities and delving into the mode of deception.
"It is necessary to know that not everyone trapped in Myawaddy is a human trafficking victim. Some of them are offenders," said Judha.
Some of the people who decided to depart for Myanmar were suspected of working in illegal sectors like online gambling. Most of them previously worked as online gambling operators in the Philippines.
Ardi Nugroho was a human trafficking survivor who managed to escape in late December last year and returned to Indonesia on January 17.
"I was abandoned while being sick. I was not given food or a bath. Just thrown on the side of the road," said Ardi, who waited for the arrival of human trafficking victims at Soekarno Hatta Airport, Banten.
He was trapped after receiving a job offer from an industrial company in Thailand in 2023. Tempted by the promise of Rp8 million per month, Ardi departed for Thailand, but was held captive by a group of people upon arrival and was then forced to work for online scammers.
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