Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07JAKARTA698
2007-03-12 02:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP)

Tags:  KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB 
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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJA #0698/01 0710205
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3742
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0276
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 2254
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0366
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0501
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3956
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 5821
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0344
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3928
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0471
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2291
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1927
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
UNCLAS JAKARTA 000698 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/RSP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
SUBJECT: INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP)
REPORT, March 2005 to March 2006 (PART 1 OF 4)

REF: A. STATE 17811

B. 06 JAKARTA 13324

C. 06 JAKARTA 2849

D. 05 JAKARTA 12001

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000698

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/RSP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
SUBJECT: INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP)
REPORT, March 2005 to March 2006 (PART 1 OF 4)

REF: A. STATE 17811

B. 06 JAKARTA 13324

C. 06 JAKARTA 2849

D. 05 JAKARTA 12001

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) Indonesia remained a major sending country for
international trafficking in persons (TIP) and faced a very
significant internal trafficking problem. Indonesia was
also a receiving country for trafficked prostitutes, though
their numbers were very small relative to Indonesian
victims. The Government of Indonesia (GOI) recognized
trafficking as a crime and a serious national issue, and
took significant strides this year in law enforcement,
against corruption-related complicity, and by completing a
final draft in February 2007 of a strong, comprehensive
anti-trafficking bill. Indonesia has not, however, met
minimal TIP standards under U.S. law.


2. (SBU) Indonesia achieved modest to significant progress
in combating trafficking in specific areas over the past
year, with strong political will evident at top levels of
government and at many local levels. The House of
Representatives (DPR) completed the final draft in February
2007 on a strong comprehensive anti-trafficking bill, which
is scheduled for consideration by the full House and likely
passage on March 20, 2007. This bill is expected to give
law enforcement the clear mandate needed to go after all
forms of trafficking, including debt bondage and sexual
exploitation. The Yudhoyono administrationQs political
will to eliminate trafficking was demonstrated in the past
year. In August 2006, President Yudhoyono issued a
presidential decree on reform policy on placement and
protection system of Indonesian migrant workers to provide
more comprehensive protection of migrant workers and better
coordination among agencies. The President furthermore has
appointed senior level officials in key positions with
clear instructions to eliminate trafficking, resulting in
noticeable progress.


3. (SBU) Law enforcement against traffickers increased in

2006 over 2005, with arrests up 29 percent from 110 to 142,
prosecutions up 87 percent from 30 to 56, and convictions
up 112 percent from 17 to 36. The average sentence in
these cases was 54 months in prison compared to 30 months
in 2005, a 55 percent increase. The government trained over
a thousand law enforcement officials on fighting
trafficking, oftentimes in inter-agency courses also
attended by NGOs. The numbers of special anti-trafficking
police and prosecutors increased. The National Plan of
Action (NPA) bore fruit in more effective national
coordination. As President YudhoyonoQs clear stance on
clean government filtered down this year through the ranks,
corrupt officials complicit in trafficking have been fired,
prosecuted or transferred, an opening salvo against
official impunity. Cooperation among various government
offices and international NGOs at Indonesian diplomatic
missions in key sending areas resulted in an increase of
rescued victims, and more humane repatriation. Ministry of
Manpower and national police took initial steps to
cooperate in providing protection of trafficked migrant
workers by signing a February 2007 MOU which provides for
joint enforcement at all transit airports and ports. Under
the 2006 Presidential migrant worker protection decree, an
agency to place and protect Indonesian migrant workers
began operating in early 2007 with an initial inter-agency
meeting and public policy statements promising to protect
workers from exploitation. Under MOUs with international
donors, the GOI began funding this year the psychological
rehabilitation of trafficking victims, a third or more of

the cost of their medical treatment, and health services in
Malaysia, in addition to the law enforcement costs of
dozens of police investigators and prosecutors dedicated to
trafficking at the national level, as well as a significant
increase in local anti-trafficking police units across the
country. The number of womenQs police desks helping victims
skyrocketed to 280 in 2006, while national trafficking
police investigators nearly doubled to 20.


4. (SBU) Significant progress in a comprehensive and
coordinated attack on trafficking took place at the
provincial and local levels as NPA local task forces took
root in communities across the country, 17 at last count.
Local task forces resulted in good cooperation among law
enforcement agencies, social service providers and NGOs in
many communities as these task forces met frequently. Some
provincial governments contributed funding to anti-
trafficking efforts and also passed local laws to protect
citizens from trafficking, not waiting for the passage of
national legislation. These efforts took place both under
the leadership of the national Ministry of WomenQs
Empowerment and spontaneously at the local levels due to
grassroots civil society campaigns. Brisk media coverage
of trafficking continued, led by both government and NGO
campaigns. The GOI made good progress in sheltering
victims abroad, repatriating victims and expanding victim
services for both externally and internally trafficked
persons. A fourth integrated medical recovery center
opened to treat victims.


5. (SBU) Indonesia made limited or no headway on other
difficult anti-trafficking steps. Illegal involvement of
individual security force members and corrupt officials in
prostitution linked to trafficking remained unchecked.
Progress is just beginning to curb corruption that allows
Indonesians to be easily trafficked abroad, last yearQs
efforts focusing on children and to a lesser extent on
women. While the Ministry of Manpower continued crackdowns
on illegal activities of migrant manpower agencies, there
was no official recognition of the reality that IndonesiaQs
migrant worker system does not protect workers from
exploitation, debt bondage and other abuses. The numbers
of cases of severe abuse of trafficked victims overseas,
particularly those in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, remained
alarming. An MOU with Malaysia signed in May 2006 ceded
some basic workersQ rights to employers making it easier
for Indonesians to be trapped in human bondage. Government
spending on trafficking is far from covering minimal needs,
and there is an urgent need for the government to take over
services now being funded by foreign governments and
international NGOs.


6. (SBU) Within the context of the country's emerging
democracy, Indonesia's anti-trafficking commitment faced
the same serious constraints affecting other issues of
national importance: endemic corruption, the weakness of
government structures and law enforcement at all levels,
limited public budgets, poverty, a weak public education
system, and competing priorities from other urgent issues.
Nevertheless, Indonesia made some significant gains in the
fight against trafficking in persons. Indonesia continued
to welcome and cooperate with international anti-
Trafficking assistance, and anti-trafficking partnership
with the U.S. Mission and U.S. grantees remained strong.


7. (SBU) Indonesia has made important strides in
trafficking, all the more so if the anti-trafficking bill
passes in March 2007, but will still need to address some
major hurdles:

--Implementation of the anti-trafficking law, which will
require both continued political will and socializing the
law among law enforcement officials and civil society.

Indonesia will need continued international support in this
effort.
--Greatly accelerated efforts to combat the corruption that
feeds trafficking, particularly among law enforcement
officials, including the military and ministry of manpower
officials.
--Increased GOI funding for law enforcement against
traffickers and for rescue, recovery and reintegration of
victims. At the same time, this is a great financial burden
for a country struggling with so many other pressing
issues. International support will be required for the
next few years to allow the GOI time to budget for these
needs.
--A migrant manpower recruitment and placement system that
protects and benefits the workers rather than exploiting
them to the benefit of the manpower agencies and employers.
--Much greater awareness of the trafficking problem and
cooperation in combating it by a few receiving countries
which account for the vast majority of human bondage of
Indonesians.
--More exploration of the issue of debt bondage by domestic
workers within Indonesia, particularly children, and
enforcement of existing laws to protect those workers. End
Summary.

--------------
SOURCES
--------------


8. (U) The U.S. Mission in Indonesia contacted and
received information from many GOI sources specifically for
the preparation of this report, including: the People's
Welfare Coordinating Ministry, the Women's Empowerment
Ministry (hereinafter the Women's Ministry),the National
Police (POLRI),the Attorney General's Office (AGO),the
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry (the Manpower
Ministry),and a number of local government offices,
including in East Java and North Sumatra. Valuable
information came from international and domestic NGOs,
including the International Catholic Migration Commission
(ICMC),the American Center for International Labor
Solidarity (ACILS),Save the Children-USA, and The Asia
Foundation. Mission research also included valuable input
from international organizations such as the International
Labor Organization (ILO),UNICEF, and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM),the latter of which was
particularly helpful in providing law enforcement
statistics. A breakdown of Mission hours spent in
preparation of the report will follow separately.


9. (U) The report text follows the general outline of
themes and questions provided in ref A instructions. Each
section begins with a capsule "update" that briefly
summarizes the most important new information included in
the text.


10. (U) The Jakarta Mission point of contact on the TIP
issue is Political Officer Stanley Harsha, tel. (62) 21-
3435-9146, fax (62) 21-3435-9116.


11. (SBU) Report text:

--------------

I. OVERVIEW OF INDONESIA'S ACTIVITIES TO
ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
--------------

UPDATE
--------------

The past year did not witness significant change in overall
trafficking patterns in Indonesia. There is a continuous
trend of Indonesians seeking work abroad as high

unemployment and poverty pushes workers overseas. The GOI
curtailed the practice of allowing young women to travel to
Japan under the guise of "cultural performers," according
to immigration and WomenQs Empowerment Ministry officials,
resulting in a decrease in reported trafficked women in
Japan. Anti-trafficking police complained during a
February 2007 meeting that the problem persists of West
Kalimantan women being trafficked to Taiwan as contract
brides who end up either being forced into prostitution or
used by their spouses for a couple of years and then sent
home; a November 2006 ACILS/ICMC report QWhen They Were
SoldQ confirms this. According to NGOs, export of Qcultural
performersQ to Japan, who oftentimes end up being
trafficked into prostitution, persisted despite official
claims that this type of practice was stopped in 2006.
Ministry of Manpower statistics on problems with workers
returning from Taiwan and Singapore document a high number
of cases of sexually transmitted diseases. Reports have
begun trickling into NGOs of women displaced by a mudflow
disaster near Surabaya being forced into prostitution
because of economic hardship, but it was too early to
document this. Domestic trafficking continued to be
concentrated in prostitution, with rampant complicity by
security officials. An Atma Jaya University study in late
2006 documented illegal methods used by manpower agencies
to keep workers in debt bondage from the time they are
recruited, also documented by ACILS/ICMC. The Ministry of
Manpower remained passive this year in stopping these and
other abuses, its raids on manpower agencies having no
effect on trafficking. Cases of severe abuse of Indonesians
trafficked abroad, particularly to Malaysia and Saudi
Arabia, continued unabated. The GOI made significant
progress in efforts by its Mission in Malaysia to protect,
treat and repatriate victims.

A new witness protection law enacted in August, 2006 should
give prosecutors more leeway in providing testimony against
traffickers while protecting victims by such means as
allowing use of videotaped testimony. Many local
governments and communities became galvanized to stop
trafficking in 2006 as public consciousness grew
perceptibly. A number of provincial and local governments
passed anti-trafficking or women and child protection laws.
Local governments also increased funding for prevention and
treatment, and are carrying out coordinated efforts between
civil society and government. Civil society across
Indonesia kept the media spotlight on trafficking,
resulting in many in-depth reports on television and in
print. The visits to Indonesia by TIP envoy Ambassador
John Miller and a UN special envoy brought attention to
crucial trafficking issues to officials and the public,
while U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Lynn Pascoe raised the
trafficking problem and the urgent need to pass the anti-
trafficking bill during numerous meetings with several
ministers. The message that trafficking is a top bilateral
issue and multilateral issue for the U.S. was clearly
appreciated by all relevant senior government officials.

President Yudhoyono took action to protect migrant workers
through an August 2006 decree to provide them more
comprehensive protection and by giving strong messages to
senior officials to eliminate trafficking. Honest,
conscientious officials were appointed at senior levels
with the political will to carry through. For the first
time this year, significant numbers of police, prosecutors
and immigration officials understood the wider meaning of
human trafficking and began working together, and this
education process began reaching hundreds of judges. Under
the leadership of the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment and a
Parliamentary special committee on anti-trafficking, work
on the comprehensive anti-trafficking bill proceeded at a
feverish pace from October to date, fully taking on board
civil societyQs suggestions to strengthen the legislation.

The bill was delayed only by final efforts to ensure the
billQs language would cover all the crucial elements and
could be clearly understood by law enforcers. Indonesian
and international NGOs deemed the bill to be strong in all
major aspects. The bill is now scheduled for final debate
and possible passage on March 20.

For the third year in a row, the Ministry of WomenQs
Empowerment published a report in 2006 on efforts to fight
trafficking covering the period of April 2005 to March

2006. The GOI reported for the first time this year the
anti-trafficking budget for the Ministries of WomenQs
Empowerment and the Coordinating Ministry for Social
Welfare, totaling $4.8 million for 2007. End update.

INDONESIA FACES SIGNIFICANT TRAFFICKING CRIMES
-------------- -

Indonesia, a developing country and emerging democracy with
the world's fourth largest population, is a place of origin
for a significant number of internationally trafficked
women and children, and to a lesser extent men. Indonesia
is also a transit and destination country for international
trafficking, although foreign victims are very small in
number relative to Indonesian victims. Very significant
incidents of trafficking occur within Indonesia's borders,
including for prostitution. Different regions of the
country are identifiable as sending, transit and/or
receiving areas for internal as well as international
trafficking. There were no reports during this period of
trafficking in territory outside of GOI control.

Source region, transit region and receiving region
of trafficking in persons in Indonesia
-------------- --------------

Update
--------------

Source regions: Various official data and observations by
ACILS/ICMC (November 2006, When They Were Sold) indicate
that all provinces of Indonesia are both sources and
destinations. An ACILS analysis of Department of Social
Affairs data on women and girls entering prostitution in
1994-95 and 2004 found it difficult to draw any firm
conclusions. The biggest increase in prostitution in
recent years has been into South Sumatra and Bangka
Belitung, followed by Jakarta, Riau and Riau Islands.
However, places which traditionally have had high levels of
prostitution such as East Java and West Kalimantan continue
to be destinations for traffickers even if the absolute
numbers of prostitutes is not increasing because of the
high replacement rate of prostitutes in such places. On the
other hand, in more isolated places such as Bangka
Belitung, Riau Islands, Halmahera, Moluccas and Papua,
traffickers find it easier to isolate and hold women and
girls in captivity, the ACILS study points out.

Eastern Indonesia continues to be a source area, transit
point and destination for victims of human trafficking.
East and Central Java, North Sulawesi, Bali and Nusa
Tenggaram, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces
are among the source areas for both domestic and
international human trafficking. East Java and Central
Sulawesi are transit points and used for QsocializationQ of
women being trafficked for commercial sex work domestically
and around Southeast Asia. Surabaya and Bali remain
destinations for domestic trafficking victims for both
commercial sex work and child labor.

Transit regions: A November 2006 ACILS report concludes
that most trafficking to Malaysia and Singapore follows two
major routes, known as the eastern and western corridors.

The western corridor is composed of two departure points:
Batam Island, Riau and Entikong, West Kalimantan for travel
by air from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur. Nunukan, East
Kalimantan is the eastern corridor departure point to
Malaysia and Brunei. There are various air, sea and land
routes from other points in Indonesia to these departure
points.

Domestic trafficking routes are varied and not well
defined.

Receiving regions: According to latest available IOM
statistics covering March 2005 to October 2006 of 1,650
victims it has assisted, the destinations were as follows:

--------------
Destination Freq Percent
--------------
Malaysia 856 63
Indonesia 432 32
Saudi Arabia 41 3
Japan 15 1
Syria 8 1
Kuwait 4 0

-------------- --------------
Types of Problems Saudi Kuwait UEA Taiwan
Malaysia Singapore
-------------- --------------
Salaries not paid 895 208 156 30 47 34
Sexually abused 707 47 62 43 17 18
Abused 668 93 91 61 47 36
Work not in accordance
with training/promises 625 92 80 283 91 108
injured at work 769 73 72 103 110 64
-------------- -
End update.

RELIABLE STATISTICS UNAVAILABLE
--------------

Reliable statistics or estimates of the overall number of
victims remain unavailable, in large part because of the
illegal and informal nature of trafficking, the lack of
systematic research, and frequent definitional problems.
The sources available for information on the prevalence of
TIP include GOI agencies (particularly the Women's Ministry
and the People's Welfare Coordinating Ministry),domestic
and international NGOs and international organizations,
including UNICEF, IOM and ILO. Most organizations'
estimates rely upon a combination of extrapolation, field
experience, press reports and anecdotal evidence. Some of
these organizations will not provide estimates due to the
uncertainty of their information. Definitional problems,
often including a lack of distinction between human
trafficking, lesser abuses of workers, and illegal
migration make some estimates very unreliable.

Crude estimates of the prevalence of TIP vary tremendously,
but most indicate the number of victims in the upper tens
of thousands or higher. In past years, GOI documents
referenced various estimates of the total number of
victims, usually in the hundreds of thousands, without
providing details for these figures. The GOI's 2005-2006
TIP report did not offer an estimate of victims. GOI
officials charged with the issue state that they do not
have reliable, overall estimates of the number of victims.

Other non-governmental estimates of the overall number of
TIP victims exist, but do not have a strong basis in
systematic research. Migrant worker advocacy groups
occasionally cited very high and seemingly inaccurate
numbers. To the extent that such organizations do not

differentiate between trafficking and lesser abuses of
migrant workers, their figures represent gross
overestimates.

INTERNAL TRAFFICKING MOST SIGNIFICANT
--------------

Update
--------------

While reliable figures do not exist, many anti-trafficking
organizations believe the number of victims of internal
trafficking exceeds the number of Indonesians trafficked
overseas. The U.S. Mission's observations support this
conclusion. Internal trafficking is largely in
prostitution. Exploitation and abuse of children in the
fishing industry and of women and girls in domestic
servitude are serious abuses as reported in a June 2003
Human Rights Watch report and a February 2007 Amnesty
International report, but links to trafficking are not
extensive. As ACILS reports (November 2006 QWhen They Were
SoldQ),the movement of women and girls is more aided by
friends and relatives than by professional recruiters, and
the lack of an elaborate recruiting process and fees paid
by employers prohibits large profits by would be
traffickers. Forced labor and worst forms of child labor
better describes the situation in the fishing industry and
domestic servitude than does trafficking. End update.

BOUNDARY ESTIMATES
--------------

Some groups have developed boundary estimates for groups
vulnerable to trafficking. ICMC and ACILS, in their 2003
book entitled "Trafficking of Women and Children in
Indonesia," identified three categories that generate the
greatest number of TIP victims: female migrant workers,
prostitutes and child domestic workers. (There are other
categories that also generate TIP victims, but not are
included in these ICMC/ACILS boundary estimates.)
ICMC/ACILS estimated that between 2.4 to 3.7 million women
and children worked in these sectors. Within these
boundaries, the total number of children ranges from
254,000 to 422,000.

ICMC/ACILS point out that these are not estimates of the
number of victims (for example, most female migrant workers
are not trafficked),but they do provide an indication of
the potential impact of trafficking on a large number of
women and children.

-------------- --------------
TABLE 1: WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SECTORS
VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING
-------------- --------------
SECTOR Women Children Children
-------------- -------------- --------------
In-country Sex
Workers 130k - 240k 39k - 72k
Female Migrant
Workers 1.4 - 2.1 mil. n/a
In-country domestic
workers 860k - 1.4 mil. 215k - 350k
-------------- --------------
2.4 - 3.7 mil. 254k - 422k

SOURCE: ICMC/ACILS, 2003
-------------- --------------

DATA ON PROSTITUTION
--------------

Prostitution constitutes a major source of concern for TIP

in Indonesia due to the number of women and children
involved; the clandestine, abusive and often forced nature
of this work; the prevalence of organized crime; and the
frequent awareness and/or complicity of officials and
security forces (police and military) in prostitution. The
boundary estimates for domestic sex workers are somewhat
more precise than for other areas. ICMC/ACILS in 2003
estimated between 130,000 to 240,000 in-country
prostitutes. A number of studies have consistently found
that on average children make up some 25 to 30 percent of
persons working as prostitutes. Using 30 percent,
ICMC/ACILS arrives at boundary estimates of some 39,000 to
72,000 child prostitutes. This range also corresponds
generally with a UNICEF estimate. Underage prostitutes
(those under 18 years of age) are by definition TIP victims
under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of

2000.

The ILO generated data on the incidence of the worst forms
of child labor, including child trafficking for
prostitution, through a series of "rapid assessments"
conducted in 2003. The ILO carried out the assessments in
limited geographic areas of concern for specific types of
child labor. For child trafficking into prostitution, the
ILO assessment focused on Java, home to 60 percent of
Indonesia's population. The ILO field research generated
"best guess" estimates for child prostitutes in these
provinces, noted in Table 2.

-------------- ---
TABLE 2: ESTIMATES OF TOTAL NUMBER OF PROSTITUTES
AND CHILD PROSTITUTES ON JAVA

LOCATION TOTAL TOTAL PERCENT
PROSTITUTES UNDERAGE UNDERAGE
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
West Java: 31,380 9,000 29
Jakarta: 28,620 5,100 18
East Java: 14,279 4,081 29
Central Java: 8,495 3,177 37
Yogyakarta 1,106 194 18
-------------- -------------- --------------
83,880 21,552 26

SOURCE: ILO RAPID ASSESSMENTS, 2003
-------------- ---

STUDY ON PAPUA
--------------

In remote Papua, a 2005 ICMC field study estimated that
there were over 3,000 internally trafficked women and girls
in the sex trade, including some 1,000 child prostitutes,
in the area's seven largest population centers. Almost all
child street prostitutes were of Papuan origin. In
contrast, most victims in karaoke bars and brothels
originated from Indonesian areas outside Papua, with the
greatest number coming from North Sulawesi. The victims
normally arrived by ship, often with false promises of
employment. Internal migrant workers generated much of the
demand for prostitution. Geographic isolation, economic
underdevelopment, and lack of civil society concern
increased the severity of trafficking conditions in Papua.

Update

--------------

Riau Progress Limited
--------------

The Riau islands including Batam, Tanjung Pinang, Bintan
and Karimun, a transit and destination area, did not make
substantial progress in 2006. In Batam, the results of

anti-trafficking activities have been mixed. NGOs report
that the police chief has increasingly focused his efforts
on trafficking but that the results are not yet clear. The
Head of Batam's office for Women's Empowerment reported
that her office handled 226 cases for Batam city in 2006.
Most of these cases involved returning trafficking victims
to their home provinces. YMKK, a foundation dealing with
health issues for trafficking victims report that they
handled 35 cases in 2006. They, too, report that most of
their activities involve repatriation of victims. Only
three of these cases, they report, were extensively
investigated by the police; none went to trial. According
to NGO representatives, plans have been made for them to
work more closely with the provincial government, the
police, hospitals and prosecutors in 2007.

Trafficking of women and girls to Riau Islands takes place
primarily for sexual exploitation in the large numbers of
entertainment establishments in Batam, Tanjung Pinang and
Balai Karimun. Riau Islands are also a transit area, to
Malaysia in particular. Local NGOS also report many girls
being trafficked by pimps overnight to Singapore as
prostitutes, using false documents. This practice is
difficult to control as many Indonesian women also travel
to Singapore to shop. In addition, there are reported
incidences of selling babies born to women in prostitution
and in labor export holding centers; it can be inferred
that some babies sold are from trafficked women and girls
with unwanted pregnancies, but it cannot be stated
conclusively that this form of baby selling is a form of
trafficking. The ACILS November 2006 report concluded that
this issue warrants further exploration. YMKK estimates
there are 5,000 sex workers in Batam alone, five percent
under 18 years of age. ICMC estimates that 25 percent of
the women and girls working as prostitutes in massage
parlors and bars are under age 18. While there is some
freedom of movement for prostitutes working in red light
districts to leave the enclosures of these Qlokalisasis,Q
there are many reports that they cannot leave unescorted.
According to Indonesian media, NGOs, and ILO research,
Malaysians and Singaporeans constitute the largest number
of sex tourists in Batam and the surrounding areas like
Balai Karimun and Tanjung Pinang. The area's sex industry
is also heavily dependent on Indonesian clients, drawn in
part from the population of hundreds of thousands of
migrant workers in Batam. ILO research described Tanjung
Balai Karimun, near Batam, as operating a "prostitution
economy."

INDONESIAN VICTIMS IN MALAYSIA
--------------

Update
--------------

Malaysia is commonly identified as the country receiving
the greatest number of Indonesian trafficking victims.
According to ACILS, in Malaysia the risks of being
trafficked are compounded by the fact that probably more
women and girls enter Malaysia illegally than legally to
seek employment. ACILS has accounts that an over-supply of
Indonesian women and girls in Malaysia results in placement
agencies in Malaysia offering incentives to hire more
foreign maids including offering the recovery of employment
fees from the employee through wage reductions. Various
sources report that the first five months of wages are
commonly deducted. IOM reported that from March 2005 to
October 2006, 72 percent of female victims recovered from
various countries had chlamydia, and a significant
proportion had other STDs, including 1.7 percent who were
HIV positive. Of these victims, 63 percent were recovered
from Malaysia.

A 2006 bilateral MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia failed
to give adequate protection to Indonesian migrant workers,
opening the door to abuse. The agreement allows employers
to hold workersQ passports, restricting their freedom to
return home, allows monthly deductions of up to 50 percent
of negotiated wages to repay loans and advances, and does
not specify time off.

Past NGO and GOI estimates of Indonesian prostitutes
(whether trafficked or not) and child prostitutes in
Malaysia have ranged in the thousands, but such estimates
do not have a strong basis in substantive research.
Officials at the Women's Ministry reported that during 2004
the GOI repatriated from Malaysia 1,047 allegedly
trafficked prostitutes, the latest data available. IOM
recorded 470 Indonesian trafficking victims, including 110
children, repatriated from Malaysia from March 2005 to
February 2006. Of these, 81 were trafficked into
prostitution, representing 62 adults and 19 children.
Domestic workers constituted the largest number of victims,
267, repatriated with IOM assistance.

The ILO, IOM, NGOs and Indonesian diplomats in Malaysia
have noted reports of illegal Indonesian migrant workers
trafficked to isolated plantations and plywood factories in
Malaysia. It was not clear in all instances whether such
reports met the definition of trafficking or represented
other types of labor abuse. In July 2006, IOM reported
that 10 out of the 78 plantations workers rescued from
Malaysia, 13 percent, were children.

"CULTURAL PERFORMERS" IN JAPAN
--------------

GOI stopped permitting Indonesian women to travel to Japan
and South Korea as Qcultural performersQ in June 2006,
according to the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment, thus
curtailing a practice that lead to being trafficked into
prostitution. The Indonesian migrant workers protection NGO
Kopbumi, however, could not confirm whether the number of
victims has reduced or not. Kopbumi reported that even
though the government had banned women to travel to Japan
as Qcultural performersQ, the practice still exists.
Kopbumi estimated that about 100 women go to Japan as
Qcultural performersQ or QapprenticeshipQ per month, but
they have no written data to back this up. For 2005, the
National Police Agency of Japan in February 2006 reported
that 117 foreign women were recovered with Indonesians
comprising the largest group of victims, totaling 44 women
(source: The Jakarta Post, February 10, 2006.) End update.
Prior to this year, the numbers of such entertainers were
believed to number in the hundreds, according to GOI and
media reports. In 2003, the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo
reportedly acknowledged knowing of 235 female entertainment
workers in Japan. International media reported that in 2005
Japanese authorities rescued 44 Indonesian women trafficked
as "sex slaves" to Japan, with Indonesians representing for
the first time the largest group of foreign victims rescued
from the sex trade there. In 2005, police arrested two
persons for trafficking dozens of "cultural performers"
into prostitution in Japan.

MIGRANT WORKERS
--------------

Update
--------------

Illegal migrant workers are more likely to be trafficked
and according to ACILS at least 800,000 of the current
estimated 1.5 million Indonesian workers in Malaysia are
said to be illegal. Some 600,000 documented Indonesian
workers went abroad in 2006, and another two million

traveled undocumented, according to GOI sources. In order
to relieve unemployment in Indonesia, the official target
is to send 750,000 workers abroad next year, according to
the Ministry of Manpower. The policy is to send 70 percent
semi-skilled workers, reducing the number sent in low wage
informal sector jobs. End update.

ICMC/ACILS note that the category of overseas or migrant
labor, which according to their research generates large
numbers of TIP victims, encompasses a range of sectors.
Female Indonesian migrant laborers tend to work as domestic
helpers, as entertainers, in the service industry, in
factories and on plantations. Males tend to find work
overseas in construction, factories and plantations, and as
drivers. The large majority of Indonesian workers overseas
are not trafficking victims, but they are vulnerable to
trafficking and lesser abuses at various stages Q during
their recruitment, pre-departure, placement and return.
The migrant worker recruiting system tolerates and
institutionalizes forms of debt bondage. The media tend to
describe Indonesian women as among the most abused of all
Asian migrant workers due in part to their lack of
education and poor English language skills. Such articles
commonly cite examples of abuse in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, and Hong Kong.

CHILD DOMESTICS
--------------

Update
--------------

A 2002-2003 baseline survey conducted by the University of
Indonesia and ILO-IPEC estimated that there were 2.6
million domestic workers in Indonesia, though this figure
was hugely at variance with the number of 579,059 generated
by the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2001
(Human Rights Watch, June 2005). Close to 35 percent of
the 2.6 million domestic workers were below 18 years of
age, 93 percent of the below-18 domestic workers being
girls (Source: ACILS QWhen They Were SoldQ.) End update.

Child domestic workers, frequently found in many middle- to
upper-income Indonesian households, may number from 215,000
to 350,000 in the under-15 age bracket, according to
ICMC/ACILS. ILO data from a limited 2002-2003 survey
indicated that some 688,000 children under age 18 may be
employed as child domestic workers. There have been no
studies done that would verify these numbers. Employers may
prefer child domestics over adults because children
commonly receive lower wages, and can be more easily
managed and controlled. An unknown number of domestics
work in trafficking or trafficking-like conditions. For
example, they may receive little or no wages, face
restricted freedom of movement, subjected to physical and
psychological abuse and sexual assault, and have no means
to remove themselves from such situations. A 2005 Human
Rights Watch report, "Always on Call," provided accounts of
gross abuse of child domestic workers in Indonesia.

STREET CHILDREN
--------------

Update
--------------

Substantial numbers of street children were apparent in
Jakarta and the provinces of East Java, West Java, North
Sumatra, and South Sulawesi. Surabaya, in East Java, was
home to approximately 8,000 street children, many
reportedly susceptible to sexual abuse and violence.
Approximately 40 shelters in the province provided services
to such children. The Jakarta City government opened a

shelter in 2004 with the capacity for approximately 200
children. The government continued to fund other shelters
administered by local NGOs and paid for the education of
some street children (Source: 2006 Human Rights Report).
End update.

Street children represent another potential source of
trafficking victims. The number of street children in
Indonesia has risen quite sharply during the last two
years. In 2004, the Social Affairs Ministry recorded that
there were 98,113 street children, but by 2006, this number
had jumped to 144,889. The ministry believed the rise was
closely related to the poverty rate, which also rose. They
estimated that 75 percent of street children come from poor
families. ICMC/ACILS note that although most street
children are not trafficked into their situation, they are
very vulnerable to traffickers. ILO studies in 2001 and
2004 documented children trafficked for the purpose of
organized street begging.

HEFFERN