Indonesian Church backs government drive against human
trafficking
 |
| Indonesian Migrant workers demanding their rights.- AFP |
Indonesia’s Catholic Church officials have
welcomed a government move to tackle human trafficking by making it easier for
migrant workers to be legal with necessary documents.
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration has
launched a one-stop service to issue official documentation to migrant workers
in Kupang, capital of Catholic majority East Nusa Tenggaraprovince,
which has the highest number of human trafficking cases.
Obtaining permits used to be a very long process and could
take months, said Samuel Adu, an official at the ministry. "This was
exploited by brokers who passed on workers illegally along a human trafficking
chain,” he said. With the new system, the process of obtaining permits is
much quicker, less than a week.
Corruption-free system
Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, secretary of the Commission
for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant-Itinerant People of
the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia (KWI) welcomed the move,
but asked the government to ensure the new system is corruption free.
"Corruption,” he said, “is commonly practiced in issuing permits."
Father Yohanes Kristoforus Tara, coordinator of the Commission
for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Franciscans in
Timor also welcomed the move but also called on the government to provide
would-be migrants with skills training. He said this would make the
government effort against trafficking more effective.
Reyna Usman, another official at the Ministry of Manpower
and Transmigration said the new service in East Nusa Tenggara will also help
the families of migrant workers stay in touch with them as every information
will be logged.
According to the East Nusa Tenggara Regional Police more
than 1,600 people were trafficked over the last two years,
many of them were children.
Aplonia Sara Mali Bere, a former migrant worker from Atambua
in Belu district who twice went to Malaysia to work illegally was optimistic
about the new system. She said hat with better protection, a lot of
migrant workers will now go through official channels. (Source: UCANEWS)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét